Lakshya Sen heads to Austria for physical assessment ahead of BWF tournaments
Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen, who starred for India in the recently concluded Paris 2024 Olympics, traveled to Austria on Sunday (August 25) for a detailed physical evaluation ahead of the upcoming Badminton World Federation (BWF) circuit tournaments.
Speaking to PTI, Lakshya’s coach Vimal Kumar said:
“Lakshya is going to Austria to do some physical assessment. There is a good sports institute there, where he wants to do some physical exercise. He left today and will be back after a week.
“The tests will focus basically on specific strength aspects. Many of the elite athletes go and get themselves tested there. We had consulted [Paris Olympics CMO] Dr Dinshaw Pardiwala for all his niggles and injuries,” he added.
Lakshya Sen, who turned 23 in August, had the chance to win a bronze medal in Paris 2024, but lost in the playoff match against Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia. After the grueling tournament, Laksha, along with other Indian shuttlers who played in Paris, pulled out of the Japan Open 2024 tournament.
Lakshya Sen will likely be seen next in the BWF 500 Hong Kong Open 2024 and BWF 1000 China Open 2024. The events are scheduled for September.
“He needs to definitely get better on fitness aspects” – Lakshya Sen’s coach highlights fitness objectives for shuttler
Youngster Lakshya Sen stunned the world when he downed several heavyweights, including third-seeded Jonatan Christie and 12th-seeded Chou Tien Chen, on his way to the men’s singles semi-final in Paris Olympics.
However, the shuttler showed his inexperience in crucial games, losing both his semi-final clash against Viktor Axelsen and the bronze-match playoff against Lee Zii Jia.
Coach Vimal Kumar believes that the Almora boy has several aspects of his fitness to improve upon which makes it paramount to find the right balance in making the training schedule. Speaking to PTI, he said:
“Right now, he is fine but before he really starts going full-fledged, it is important for him to get the right physical training, and unless the strength and conditioning program is really spot on, he can get injuries. So we have to find the right things to do.
“He needs to definitely get better on fitness aspects, especially the speed, endurance and other things he needs to work on. Because the game he plays, it's very fast-paced. He has to defend a lot and then he converts the defence into offense.
“When he's playing with the wind, he needs to keep putting the shuttle down, come into the net, tumble at the net, so up and down... those sort of things it takes away a lot of your energy. So, he needs to get super fit or develop the ability to control the drift,” he concluded.