Who is Lakshya Sen? Know all about the Indian shuttler competing in men's singles at Paris Olympics 2024
Ace Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen, who was born in Almora, Uttarakhand, in 2001, qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympics via the Road to Paris 2024 Rankings. The poster boy of Indian badminton will make his Olympic debut in the French capital.
Sen took up the sport seriously when he was 15. He started training at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy and displayed exceptional talent right from the beginning.
After a good start in the junior badminton circuit in 2016, he competed at the senior international level, securing a win in the men's singles at the India International Series competition in 2016.
Sen clinched the 2018 Asian Junior Championships title, defeating the top-seeded World Junior No. 1 Kunlavut Vitidsarn 21-19, 21-18 in the final. In 2016, he lost the same competition 12-21, 16-21 in the semi-finals to Sun Feixiang to settle for a bronze medal.
He competed at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics, settling for the boys' singles silver medal after losing to Chinese player Li Shifeng in straight games (15-21, 19-21). Additionally, he competed in the mixed team event and helped Team Alpha clinch the gold medal.
Lakshya Sen broke into the top 50 of BWF rankings for the first time in 2019
Lakshya Sen came into the limelight, shifting from challenge-level competitions to the BWF World Tour level, in 2019. His first-ever win in a BWF World Tour event came at the 2019 Dutch Open.
Later, he clinched the SaarLorLux Open title, defeating China's Weng Hongyang in the final, making it two consecutive Super 100 title wins. With consecutive title wins, he broke into the top 50 of the BWF rankings for the first time.
He started 2022 by winning his maiden BWF Super 500 title at the India Open. Further, he played a crucial role in helping India win its maiden Thomas Cup title in 2022. The 22-year-old defeated Olympic bronze medallist Anthony Ginting from Indonesia in the final.
Additionally, he secured his first-ever Commonwealth Games gold medal in 2022 after an exceptional come-from-behind win (19-21, 21-9, 21-16) against Malaysia’s Ng Tze Yong in the final.
He was also part of the bronze medal-winning Indian team at the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships in 2023. In July 2023, he defeated China’s Li Shifeng in the Canada Open final to clinch the title.
At the Asian Games in 2023, Lakshya Sen played a pivotal role in propelling the Indian team to clinch the historic silver medal in the men’s team event.