Dehradun: India's Lakshya Sen has won the bronze medal in the Badminton World Championships in Huelva of Spain. The 20-year-old from Almora lost the silver medal to compatriot Kidambi Srikanth 17-21, 21-14, 21-17 in a very close semi-final on Saturday.
Sen faced Srikanth in the singles semi-final in an exciting match that lasted for one hour and nine minutes. With this medal, Lakshya has become the first Indian player to win a medal in men's singles while playing for the first time in a world competition.
Talking to ETV India from Barcelona in Spain, Lakshya Sen said that he is happy with his success. He also ensured that in future, too, he will try his best to give more such wins to the country. He thanked the sports lovers from across the country and especially the people of Uttarakhand and Almora for supporting him. Lakshya Sen's father and coach DK Sen also accompanied him to the tournament in Spain. While speaking to ETV Bharat, he expressed joy in his son's accomplishment and said that he wants Lakshya to continue performing brilliantly in international competitions like this.
Lakshya, who is a native of Almora in Uttarakhand, has inherited badminton from his father. While his father DK Sen is a badminton coach, Lakshya developed an interest in the game after he saw his brother Chirag, who became a national ranker at the age of 13. The Sen house was thus always filled with a passion for badminton. When his grandfather went to play, he would take Lakshya with him, after which his father started teaching him the nuances of the game.
In 2010, which is perhaps the most crucial year of Lakshya Sen's badminton career, he was playing a junior level tournament in Bengaluru. He caught the eyes of India's renowned badminton player Prakash Padukone and former India coach Vimal Kumar here, who were highly impressed by Lakshya's performance. While his brother Chirag had already gotten admitted into the Prakash Padukone Academy, it was Lakshya's ardent wish to join the academy too. But because Lakshya was still quite young, Padukone was sceptical about admitting him, despite being highly impressed by his performance. However, Vimal felt that his commitment and passion towards the game is a fair excuse to admit him irrespective of his age.
He thus started training at the Prakash Padukone Academy in Bengaluru at a young age. Going forward, at the age of 15, he won the National Junior Under-19 title. In 2015, he won the under-17 national title. In 2016 under-19, he again won the gold medal. He played the senior national finals in 2017 at the age of 17 and won that title, too.
In 2018-19, he again played in the senior national finals, but this time he managed to bag a silver medal. He also won the gold medal at Asian Junior Championships in 2018 by defeating the junior world champion Vitidsaran Ko of Thailand. Additionally, he also won a silver medal in the Youth Olympic Games in 2018. He has also been awarded the Youth Icon of the Year for his excellent performance at the Inspired Indian Federation function in Bangalore. Lakshya has thus shown outstanding badminton skills since his junior years.
With a bronze in the BWF World Championship, Lakshya can certainly be seen as India's next star in the men's category. He himself believes he is capable of this, as he is the first male badminton player to bring home an international medal.
After this win, it is expected that the Uttarakhand Government will pay more attention to sports facilities and youngsters active in sports in the state. Badminton experts say that with the right exposure, India can produce many more of such champions. They also clarify that the main problem is in getting the land and setting up the infrastructure for the academy. The present Dhami government of Uttarakhand can open an international level academy by taking experience from Lakshya Sen and other international players like him, along with coaches like DK Sen, so that the youngsters of Uttarakhand do not have to leave the state for training.
Also read: ETV BHARAT SPECIAL REPORT ON REALITY OF RESPECT FOR SOLDIERS FAMILIES IN UTTARAKHAND
