Sports Desk6 hours ago
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Lakshya Sen is the first Indian male shuttler to reach the Olympic semi-finals.
Lakshya Sen is India’s only hope to win a medal in badminton at the Paris Olympics. The 22-year-old young shuttler has lost in the semi-finals of the men’s singles, although he has a chance to win bronze. He can give India its first badminton medal in the men’s category in Olympic history.
Lakshya, who is playing his first Olympics, was born in Almora, Uttarakhand. His brother, father and grandfather were also badminton players. Lakshya has been playing badminton since the age of 5 and used to cry in sadness when he lost against elders. He can now win an Olympic medal for the country. In this story, you will know about his achievements and struggle story…
Father and grandfather are also badminton players
16 August, 2001. Lakshya was born in Almora, Uttarakhand to badminton player DK Sen. The roots of badminton in Lakshya’s family go back to before independence. His grandfather Chandra Lal Sen was a legendary badminton player. Due to which DK also played badminton and both his sons Chirag and Lakshya also made badminton their career since childhood.
Reached badminton court at the age of 5
Being from a sports-loving family, Lakshya went to the badminton court of Almora with his grandfather at the age of 5. Lakshya’s grandfather had also built a court in the city, but due to lack of facilities, DK Sen could not reach the international level from there. The struggle of his father and grandfather made the path easier for Lakshya. As soon as he started school, he started playing badminton regularly with his elder brother Chirag.
Lakshya Sen has been playing badminton since the age of 5.
Did not teach traditional badminton to son
DK Sen is a professional badminton coach. He did not give traditional training to his sons, in which the training starts with teaching the service. DK started playing normal badminton with his sons, like the children play in the streets of India. He did this so that Lakshya could get a grip on badminton.
DK believes that doing this made Lakshya mentally strong. During this time, he also made Lakshya do small badminton drills. So that Lakshya learns to cover the entire court quickly. These drills are most important in badminton, but they are done only when the player gets used to playing strokes. Whereas Lakshya had got used to these drills from the very first day.
DK says it is simple, ‘In badminton, to play a stroke, you have to get behind the shuttle. If the shuttle stays behind your body, how will you play a shot? It is important for young players to do a lot of running. Sprinting is also important, because you need speed on the court.’
Lakshya with father DK Sen.
Intense practice was also done to defend
Right from the beginning, DK worked on the defending skills of both the brothers. He arranged matches of both of them with senior players so that they do not get scared of smashes and can defend them easily. His coaching skills were also criticized, but today Lakshya is getting success due to these skills.
DK explains, ‘Lakshya got used to playing with players older than him. He would also be a part of the team of the elders in his school. Even in the cultural programs of the elder children, Lakshya would take part in them. The teachers would forbid him, but he would insist and somehow he would participate.’
Father sent both the brothers to Bangalore
Seeing that there was no improvement in Uttarakhand, the father sent 7-year-old Lakshya along with Chirag to Bangalore. Where Lakshya took his badminton skills to new heights at the Prakash Padukone Academy. However, the grandfather could not see his grandson Lakshya succeed, he passed away in 2013. But the grandfather had ignited the fire of badminton in his grandson.
Lakshya with father DK Sen (left) and Prakash Padukone (right).
Mother said, Lakshya used to cry after losing
Lakshya’s mother Nirmala has said in an interview, ‘Lakshya used to get defeated by older boys at a young age. He used to cry in sadness at losing, but he would still play badminton. He never liked losing, he always had the determination to win.’ Their mother says that both the brothers are good in studies. Even amidst international tournaments, Lakshya is completing his graduation from Uttarakhand Open University.
Lakshya used to train at 4:30 in the morning
The father says, ‘Lakshya’s training would start at 4:30 in the morning. Both of us would run 2 km and also do a 200 meter sprint. I would always challenge him so that he could run faster, but I would also intentionally lose to him. He is very stubborn and works very hard to win.’ With this determination, Lakshya won his first junior title in the form of Switzerland Junior International in 2014.
Lakshya Sen (right) with his parents and brother Chirag in Almora.
Won first senior championship in 2016
By 2016, Lakshya had won many junior championships. Winning a bronze medal in the Asian Championship was his best performance at the junior level. He started playing senior championships in 2016 and won his first senior tournament in the form of India International Series this year.
Lakshya Sen has become the first Indian male shuttler to reach the semi-finals of the Olympics.
Made a mark by winning gold in Youth Olympics
In 2018, Lakshya won the Youth Olympics gold and from here he got a new identity in the badminton world. He was also a part of Team India that won the Thomas Cup in 2022. He won gold in the 2022 Commonwealth Games. He also won silver in the team event of the Commonwealth.
Lakshya has won 4 BWF World Tour and 7 International Series titles. In 2022, at the age of 20, he was also awarded the Arjuna Award. Lakshya can now create history by winning a medal in his debut Olympics.
The first 4 matches in Paris were won in 2-2 games
Before the Paris Olympics, Lakshya played most of the BWF tournaments. The last tournament he played was the Indonesia Open, in which he lost in the quarter-finals. He went to the academy and started preparing for the Paris Olympics. In Paris, he won all three matches in the group stage in just 2 games.
He won the pre-quarterfinal in 2 games, then won the quarterfinal in 3 games and made it to the semifinal. If Lakshya manages to win today’s match, this will be his first final in 2024. Also, this will be India’s first men’s category medal in the badminton history of Olympics.
