Lakshya Sen

Lakshya Sen was born on August 16, 2001, in Almora, Uttarakhand. His father, D K Sen, is a well-known national coach, and his brother, Chirag Sen, is also a badminton player. His grandfather, Chandra Lal Sen, was also involved in the sport. While growing up Lakshya was captivated by the game seeing both his father and brother playing the game so passionately. Whenever his father accompanied Chirag to the Union Bank Sub-Junior tournament, Lakshya would persuade him to let him tag along.

Lakshya Sen’s journey to success started in 2014 when he claimed victory at the Swiss Junior International by defeating B. M. Rahul Bharadwaj with scores of 11-5, 11-6, 6-11, 11-6. The following year, he outshone his older brother Chirag and won the India Junior International in 2015 with a score of 21-18, 21-15. His talent as a badminton player was nurtured at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy, and it didn’t take long for him to prove his potential.

In 2016, Lakshya Sen bagged the bronze medal at the Junior Asian Championship, despite losing to Sun Feixiang 12-21,16-21. His winning spree continued as he secured the men’s singles title at the 2016 India International Series tournament, triumphing over Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia. Sen’s skill and determination were recognized when he became the top junior singles player in the BWF World Junior ranking in February 2017.

In 2018, he outperformed Cheam June Wei who was a higher-ranked player with a straight set win by 21-11, 21-16 at the New Zealand Open. He stunned two-time Olympic champion and top seed Lin Dan was commendable with his performance, even though he eventually lost 21-15, 15-21, and 12-21. Sen’s participation in the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics saw him clinching a silver medal in the boys’ singles category, falling short against Chinese player Li Shifeng in straight games 15-21, 19-21. That same year, Sen secured a bronze medal at the BWF Junior World Championships after losing to the eventual winner, Kunlavut Vitidsarn, in the semi-finals by 22-20, 16-21, and 13-21.

Sen’s career took another leap in 2019 when he won his first BWF Tour title at the Dutch Open men’s singles by defeating Japan’s Yusuke Onodera. He was part of the Indian team that bagged the bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Team Championships in 2020. In December 2021, Sen won the bronze medal at the BWF World Championships after losing to compatriot K Srikanth in the semifinals in a hard-fought match 21-17, 14-21, 17-21.

The year 2022 started off brilliantly for Sen as he claimed victory over reigning world champion Loh Kean Yew in the India Open final, claiming his first Super 500 title. As part of the Indian men’s team at the Thomas Cup 2022, Lakshya contributed to the team’s victory over Indonesia 3-0 by winning his match against Anthony Sinisuka Ginting. Furthermore, Sen became the Commonwealth Games 2022 champion by winning over Malaysia’s Ng Tze Yong in the final.

For his accomplishments in the sport of Badminton, Lakshya Sen received the prestigious Arjuna Award in 2022. He dedicated this award to his late grandfather, CL Sen, who was also a well-known badminton player during his time and won multiple state and national level medals.