Lakshya Sen

Lakshya Sen
Sen at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics
Personal information
Country	India
Born	(2001-08-16) 16 August 2001 (age 23) Almora, Uttarakhand, India [1]
Residence	Bangalore, India [2]
Height	1.8 m (5 ft 11 in)
Years active	2014–present
Handedness	Right
Coach	Yoo Yong-sung Vimal Kumar Prakash Padukone
Men's singles
Career record	206 wins, 112 losses
Highest ranking	6 (November 2022)
Current ranking	18 (8 July 2025)
Honours	Arjuna Award
Medal record Men's badminton Representing   India Event 1st 2nd 3rd World Championships 0 0 1 Thomas Cup 1 0 0 Commonwealth Games 1 1 0 Asian Games 0 1 0 Asian Championships 0 0 2 Youth Olympics Games 1 1 0 World Junior Championships 0 0 1 Asian Junior Championships 1 0 1 Total 4 3 5 World Championships 2021 Huelva Men's singles Thomas Cup 2022 Bangkok Men's team Commonwealth Games 2022 Birmingham Men's singles 2022 Birmingham Mixed team Asian Games 2022 Hangzhou Men's team Asian Championships 2020 Manila Men's team 2023 Dubai Mixed team Youth Olympic Games 2018 Buenos Aires Boys' singles World Junior Championships 2018 Markham Boys' singles Asian Junior Championships 2018 Jakarta Boys' singles 2016 Bangkok Boys' singles Representing Mixed-NOCs Youth Olympic Games 2018 Buenos Aires Mixed team
BWF profile

Lakshya Sen (born 16 August 2001) is an Indian badminton player. ^[3] He is a former World Junior No. 1. Sen is a bronze medalist at the World Championships, a gold medalist at the Thomas Cup, a silver medalist at the Asian Games and a gold and silver medalist at the Commonwealth Games. ^[4] He has also won bronze medals at the Asia Team and Asia Mixed Team Championships. Sen competed in the men's singles event at the 2024 Olympics, where he finished fourth after narrowly losing the bronze medal match. ^[5]

Early life

Sen was born on 16 August 2001 to Nirmala and Dhirendra Sen in the Almora district of Uttarakhand. ^[6] They shifted to Bangalore for the sake of his badminton career. Sen is a third generation shuttler from his family. His grandfather Chandra Lal Sen and his father were badminton players. ^[7] His elder brother Chirag Sen is also a professional shuttler. ^[8]

Career

Early steps (2009)

Sen was about ten years old when he walked into Vimal Kumar's office at the Karnataka Badminton Association in Bengaluru, stood on his toes to reach the table and gave him a handwritten note with scoreline details. He wanted to join the academy to get better at badminton to beat his opponents. ^[9]

Junior level tournaments (2016)

Having trained at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy, Sen showed his talent as a badminton player at a young age. ^[10] In 2014, he won the Swiss Junior International. He also had a brilliant year in the 2016 junior badminton circuit. ^[11] He won the bronze medal at the Junior Asian Championship after losing to Sun Feixiang 12–21, 16–21. Coincidently, Sen lost to Sun again in the pre-quarters of Junior World Championship 21–17, 8–21 and 13–21. His team finished 8th in the team event. Sen then competed at the senior international level and won the 2016 India International Series tournament title.

World junior #1 (2017)

Sen started off at Syed Modi International where he lost in pre-quarters to compatriot Sourabh Verma 14–21, 16–21. He then became the number one junior singles player in BWF World Junior ranking in February 2017. ^[12] At the Junior Asian Championship, Sen was seeded as No.1 but lost in the pre-quarters to Lin Chun-yi 21–13, 23–25 and 20–22. Sen reached the Quarter-finals of Vietnam Open before losing to Kodai Naraoka 21–17, 21–23 and 10–21. Sen was then seeded as No. 2 at the Junior World Championship but in the quarter-finals, he lost to Kodai Naraoka 21–14, 17–21, 14–21.

Asian Junior Champion and Youth Olympics medalist (2018)

Sen defeated Cheam June Wei, a much higher ranked player than him 21–11, 21–16 in straight games at the New Zealand Open but lost to 2 time Olympic gold medallist and seed No.1 Lin Dan 21–15, 15–21 and 12–21. At the Australian Open. He lost to seed No.7 Lee Cheuk Yiu 20–22, 21–13 and 19–21. Sen emerged as the champion at the 2018 Asian Junior Championships defeating the top seeded World Junior No. 1 Kunlavut Vitidsarn in the final 21–19, 21–18. ^[13]

At the Hyderabad Open, Sen lost to seed No. 8 Heo Kwang-hee 13–21 and 12–21. Sen defeated seed No.2 Sitthikom Thammasin 21–14, 21–19 at the 2018 Indonesia Masters but lost to seed No.7 Lin Yu-hsien 21–12, 20–21 and 14–21 in the Quarter-finals. ^[14]

Sen participated at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics as the fourth seeded. He settled for the silver medal in the boys' singles after losing to Chinese player Li Shifeng in straight games 15–21, 19–21. ^[15] He also competed in the mixed team event, and helped team Alpha win the gold medal. ^[16]

Sen clinched the bronze medal at the BWF Junior World Championships after losing to the eventual champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn in the semi-finals 22–20, 16–21, 13–21. ^[17]

Back-to-back tour titles (2019–2021)

Sen won the 2019 Belgian International tournament by beating Victor Svendsen 21–14 and 21–15. He clinched his first BWF Tour title by winning the Dutch Open title after beating Yusuke Onodera of Japan. ^[18] In November, he won the Hylo Open held in Saarbrücken, Germany. He defeated China's Weng Hongyang to claim the title. ^[19] He won the 2019 Scottish Open next, with a victory against Brazilian Ygor Coelho. ^[20]

Sen was a member of the Indian team which clinched the bronze at 2020 Badminton Asia Team Championships. He reached the 2nd round of 2020 All England Open, his 1st ever BWF Super 1000 Tournament before losing to champion and world No.1 Viktor Axelsen 17–21 and 18–21. ^[21] He lost to Hans-Kristian Vittinghus 21–15, 7–21 and 15–21 in 2nd round of the 2020 Denmark Open. Sen was seeded as No.2 at 2020 Hylo Open but withdrew due to an injury. The Covid-19 pandemic restricted him from playing more international BWF tournaments that year.

In December, he reached the semifinal of the 2021 World Championships where he lost to compatriot Srikanth Kidambi in a hard-fought match 21–17, 14–21, 17–21 and settled for a bronze medal during the edition. ^[22]

Thomas Cup victory and Commonwealth gold (2022)

In January, he defeated the reigning world champion Loh Kean Yew in the India Open final, thus clinching his first Super 500 title. Sen defeated him in two straight games 24–22, 21–17. ^[23] In the German Open, Lakshya defeated World No.1 Viktor Axelsen in the semifinals, but lost the finals to Kunlavut Vitidsarn. He then defeated World No. 3 Anders Antonsen and World No. 7 Lee Zii Jia to reach the finals of the 2022 All England Open. ^[24] He lost the finals to Viktor Axelsen 10–21, 15–21. ^[25] He subsequently withdrew from the Swiss Open, as he was tired after playing 2 back-to-back BWF tournaments finals. ^[26] Lakshya Sen was part of the Indian men's team for 2022 Thomas Cup. The team went on to win the Thomas Cup by beating Indonesia 3–0, with Sen winning his match against Anthony Sinisuka Ginting. ^[27] He became the Commonwealth champion at the 2022 Commonwealth Games by defeating Ng Tze Yong of Malaysia in the final. Sen was also part of the Indian team that won the silver medal in the mixed team event. ^[28]

Canada Open title and Asian Games silver (2023)

In February, Lakshya Sen was a member of the Indian team that clinched the bronze medal at Asia Mixed Team Championships.

On 9 July, Lakshya Sen defeated China's Li Shifeng in straight sets 21-18, 22-20 in the finals and won the 2023 Canada Open in Calgary, Canada. ^[29] Sen was part of the Indian team which won a silver medal in the men's team event at 2022 Asian Games. ^[30]

4th at Paris Olympics (2024)

Sen participated in the Olympic Games held in Paris. He defeated third seeded Jonatan Christie in the group stage and progressed to the knockout stage. After winning against his compatriot Prannoy H. S. in the round of 16, he defeated Chou Tien-chen in the quarter finals. However he was stopped by the second seeded Viktor Axelsen in the semifinal stage. ^{[31] [32]} He finished fourth after losing the bronze medal match to Lee Zii Jia, scripting the best ever performance by a male badminton player from India. ^[33] Post his journey at the Olympics, Sen won the S300 title of Syed Modi International by defeating Singaporean Jason Teh 21-6, 21-7 in a dominating match. ^[34] He ended the year by winning the bronze medal at the inaugural Kings Cup hosted by icon Lin Dan. ^[35]

AEO and beyond (2025–)

At the 2025 All England Open, he started off with a tricky win against Su Li-yang. ^[36] He carrier the momentum forward in the next round where he faced defending champion Jonatan Christie. Sen won the match in straight sets with a scoreline of 21–13, 21–10. ^[37]

Coaching

Vimal Kumar is his coach while former player Prakash Padukone is his mentor. ^[38] For brief periods of time, Sen has been coached by Yoo Yong-sung. ^[39] He has also undergone training stints under Morten Frost and Peter Gade. ^[40] His conditioning coach is Paddy Upton. ^[41] In addition to his training sessions, Sen takes on ice baths, steam and sauna, and joint mobilisation work routines. ^[42]

Achievements

World Championships

Men's singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
2021	Palacio de los Deportes Carolina Marín, Huelva, Spain	Srikanth Kidambi	21–17, 14–21, 17–21	Bronze

Commonwealth Games

Men's singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
2022	National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham, England	Ng Tze Yong	19–21, 21–9, 21–16	Gold

Youth Olympic Games

Boys' singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
2018	Tecnópolis, Buenos Aires, Argentina	Li Shifeng	15–21, 19–21	Silver

World Junior Championships

Boys' singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
2018	Markham Pan Am Centre, Markham, Canada	Kunlavut Vitidsarn	22–20, 16–21, 13–21	Bronze

Asia Junior Championships

Boys' singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
2016	CPB Badminton Training Center, Bangkok, Thailand	Sun Feixiang	12–21, 16–21	Bronze
2018	Jaya Raya Sports Hall Training Center, Jakarta, Indonesia	Kunlavut Vitidsarn	21–19, 21–18	Gold

World Tour (5 titles, 2 runners-up)

The BWF World Tour was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018. ^[43] It's a series of elite badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation. The BWF World Tour is divided into levels of World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300, and the BWF Tour Super 100. ^[44]

Men's singles

Year	Tournament	Level	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2019	Dutch Open	Super 100	Yusuke Onodera	15–21, 21–14, 21–15	Winner	[45]
2019	Hylo Open	Super 100	Weng Hongyang	17–21, 21–18, 21–16	Winner	[46]
2022	India Open	Super 500	Loh Kean Yew	24–22, 21–17	Winner	[47]
2022	German Open	Super 300	Kunlavut Vitidsarn	18–21, 15–21	Runner–up
2022	All England Open	Super 1000	Viktor Axelsen	10–21, 15–21	Runner–up
2023	Canada Open	Super 500	Li Shifeng	21–18, 22–20	Winner	[48]
2024	Syed Modi International	Super 300	Jason Teh	21–6, 21–7	Winner	[49]

International Challenge / Series (7 titles, 3 runners-up)

Men's singles

Year	Tournament	Opponent	Score	Result
2016	India International Series	Lee Zii Jia	11–13, 11–3, 11–6	Winner
2017	Bulgarian Open	Zvonimir Đurkinjak	18–21, 21–12, 21–17	Winner
2017	India International Series	Chong Yee Han	21–15, 17–21, 21–17	Winner
2017	India International Challenge	Sitthikom Thammasin	21–15, 14–21, 19–21	Runner–up
2018	India International Challenge	Kunlavut Vitidsarn	21–15, 21–10	Winner
2019	Polish Open	Kunlavut Vitidsarn	17–21, 14–21	Runner–up
2019	Belgian International	Victor Svendsen	21–14, 21–15	Winner
2019	Scottish Open	Ygor Coelho	18–21, 21–18, 21–19	Winner
2019	Bangladesh International	Leong Jun Hao	22–20, 21–18	Winner
2021	Dutch Open	Loh Kean Yew	12–21, 16–21	Runner–up

  BWF International Challenge tournament

  BWF International Series tournament

  BWF Future Series tournament

Junior International (2 titles, 1 runner-up)

Boys' singles

Year	Tournament	Opponent	Score	Result
2014	Swiss Junior International	B. M. Rahul Bharadwaj	11–5, 11–6, 6–11, 11–6	Winner
2015	India Junior International	Chirag Sen	21–18, 21–15	Winner
2017	German Junior International	Lee Chia-hao	21–19, 11–21, 18–21	Runner–up

  BWF Junior International Grand Prix tournament

  BWF Junior International Challenge tournament

  BWF Junior International Series tournament

  BWF Junior Future Series tournament

Record against opponents

Record against Year-end Finals finalists, World Championships semi-finalists, and Olympic quarter-finalists. Accurate as of 23 April 2024.

Player Matches Win Lost Diff. Lin Dan 2 0 2 –2 Shi Yuqi 2 0 2 –2 Zhao Junpeng 1 1 0 +1 Chou Tien-chen 2 1 2 –1 Viktor Axelsen 7 1 6 –5 Anders Antonsen 5 2 3 –1 Hans-Kristian Vittinghus 4 2 2 0 Kevin Cordón 1 1 0 +1 Srikanth Kidambi 3 0 3 –3 Parupalli Kashyap 1 1 0 +1

Player Matches Win Lost Diff. Prannoy H. S. 7 4 3 +1 Anthony Sinisuka Ginting 3 3 0 +3 Kento Momota 3 1 2 –1 Kodai Naraoka 6 2 4 –2 Loh Kean Yew 9 6 3 +3 Heo Kwang-hee 2 0 2 –2 Son Wan-ho 1 0 1 –1 Kunlavut Vitidsarn 11 4 7 –3 Kantaphon Wangcharoen 6 4 2 +2

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Result	Ref
2019	Indian Sports Honours	Emerging Sportsman of the Year	Nominated	[50]
2022	Arjuna Award	Outstanding Performance in Sports	Won	[51]
2023	Sportstar Awards	Sportsman of the Year Racquet Sports	Won	[52]
	Times of India Sports Awards	Singles Player of the Year Male	Nominated	[53]
	Indian Sports Honours	Emerging Sportsman of the Year	Won	[54]
		Electrifying Performance of the Year	Nominated
2025	Times of India Sports Awards	Badminton Player of the Year Male	TBA	[55]

See also

• Badminton in India
• India national badminton team

References

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2. "Lakshya Sen back to base after Paris heartbreak: The fire burns brightly within me". India Today. 11 August 2024. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
3. "Players: Lakshya Sen". Badminton World Federation. Archived from the original on 14 August 2017. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
4. "CWG 2022: 20-year-old Lakshya Sen Wins Gold Medal In Badminton Men's Singles". Hindustan Times. 8 August 2022. Archived from the original on 9 August 2022. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
5. Roy, Anjishnu (5 August 2024). "Paris 2024 Olympics: Lakshya Sen falls short of historic badminton bronze medal, loses to Lee Zii Jia". Olympics.
6. "Inside Indian badminton star Lakshya Sen's net worth, income, career, education and more". India Times. 3 August 2024. Retrieved 4 August 2024.
7. "Teenage shuttler Lakshya Sen wants to focus on the basics". Mid-day. 1 December 2019. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
8. "Joy for Sen family as brothers Chirag and Lakshya named in Indian squad for BATC". The Times of India. ISSN   0971-8257 . Retrieved 11 August 2024.
9. "The wind beneath Lakshya's wings". Hindustan Times.
10. "India Open 2024: Lakshya Sen inspired by Prakash Padukone's words of wisdom". Business Standard.
11. "Lakshya Sen, the new poster boy of Indian badminton". Olympics.
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42. "Discover Lakshya Sen's attention to detail that goes into fitness training". Red Bull. 9 September 2024. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
43. Alleyne, Gayle (19 March 2017). "BWF Launches New Events Structure". Badminton World Federation. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
44. Sukumar, Dev (10 January 2018). "Action-Packed Season Ahead!". Badminton World Federation. Archived from the original on 13 January 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
45. PTI (13 October 2019). "Lakshya Sen wins Dutch Open, bags first BWF World Tour title". sportstar.thehindu.com. Retrieved 17 February 2025.
46. "With SaarLorLux win, Lakshya Sen completes a hat-trick of gold medals, and breaks into BWF top-50". Firstpost. 4 November 2019. Retrieved 17 February 2025.
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48. PTI (10 July 2023). "Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen wins Canada Open 2023". The Hindu. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 17 February 2025.
49. Malik, Varun (1 December 2024). "Lakshya Sen wins Syed Modi International 2024 final, registers first title win of the year". India Tv News. Retrieved 17 February 2025.
50. "Winners | ISH 2019". Indian Sports Honours. Retrieved 19 October 2024.
51. "From Sharath Kamal to Lakshya Sen: Here's the full list of winners of National Sports Awards 2022". Times Now. 30 November 2022. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
52. Sportstar, Team (27 February 2023). "Sharath Kamal and Lakshya Sen win Sportsman of the Year (Racquet Sports) at Sportstar Aces Awards 2023". Sportstar. Retrieved 22 February 2025.
53. "TOISA 2023: Badminton stars nominated for the award". The Times of India. ISSN   0971-8257 . Retrieved 17 February 2025.
54. "Edition ISH 2023 Winner – ISH" . Retrieved 22 February 2025.
55. "TOISA 2024: Badminton Aces Among the Nominees". The Times of India. 18 February 2025. ISSN   0971-8257 . Retrieved 22 February 2025.

External links

• Lakshya Sen at BWFBadminton.com
• Lakshya Sen at BWF.TournamentSoftware.com (archived)
• Lakshya Sen at Olympics.com
• Lakshya Sen at Olympedia