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Lakshya Sen, the Prince of Asia

Indian teen sensation battles injury, cramped schedule to lift Asia Junior title; his coaches say mental strength sets him apart from others

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Lakshya Sen celebrates on the podium as his competitors applaud after Asia Junior Championships final in Jakarta on Sunday —Twitter/BAIMedia
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Sixteen-year-old Lakshya Sen went to Jakarta for the Badminton Asia Junior Championships with a considerable burden of expectations.

As the sixth seed in the men's singles under-19, he fulfilled those expectations, defeating higher seeds along the way including world junior No. 1 and reigning junior world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand 21-19 21-18 in Sunday's final to clinch gold at this prestigious tournament, becoming only the third Indian to do so.

Sen, the shuttler from Uttarakhand, played 10 matches, winning all of them in the space of nine days. These included three matches in the team event that preceded the individual event.

Apart from the straight-games win in the final, Sen accounted for Indonesia's world No. 5 and fourth seed Ikhsan Leonardo Imanuel Rumbay in the semifinal, Chinese second seed and world No. 3 Li Shifeng in the quarterfinals without dropping a game.

The only match in which he dropped a game in this entire Jakarta trip was in Round of 32 against Japan's Riku Hatano.

It not only spoke volumes about Sen's badminton skills but also his mental toughness.

Sayali Gokhale, Sen's coach at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy (PPBA) in Bengaluru where he has been training for the last few years, told DNA on Sunday that Sen's mental toughness sets him apart from others.

"Mentally, he is very tough, strong-headed," 31-year-old former national women's singles champion Gokhale said.

"He can do whatever he wants on the court. Very few can do that. He works 100 per cent towards that. That is one advantage he has and that comes naturally to him.

"He is very smart. He can use his strengths in the game very effectively at crucial times. He is able to change the game to his direction. For example, if he is playing at a certain pace, he knows how to accelerate and get those points towards the end of the game and win," she added.

The matches in the individual event were not easy, though the scorelines may suggest so. "Some of the opponents he has played here, he has played against them last year. He had beaten the Chinese in straight games last year at the junior Worlds (fourth round). This tournament was never easy and he has dealt with the situation more confidently," Gokhale said.

Gokhale, who often travels with Sen as the coach on tournaments including his triumphant one in the Bulgarian Open International Series last August in Sofia, said Sen's confidence has been sky high right through this tournament.

Most of that confidence came from stretching multiple world champion, the incomparable Chinese Lin Dan, to three games twice in succession in May this year – at the New Zealand Open (21-15 15-21 12-21) and the Thomas Cup (21-16 9-21 8-21).

The youngster won the first game in both these matches before going down to the two-time Olympic and five-time World champion.

Gokhale said: "This whole tournament he has played with tremendous confidence right from the first round. He won all the matches convincingly, something that will make him a force to reckon with in the senior circuit in the future. He has maintained calm and composure every match and that has helped him majorly.

"He has a very good attacking game, has the big smash and uses it very smartly. He makes some good variations along with it and has good defence. Overall, his game looked good throughout this tournament," she added.

Good enough, obviously, to only emulate Gautam Thakkar (1965) and PV Sindhu (2012) as the only Indian gold medallists at the Badminton Asia Juniors.

Gokhale said the thought of battling against Lin Dan excited Sen.

"When he entered those tournaments, he knew he was going to play Lin Dan and was looking forward to them. He was very excited. After stretching him to three games in New Zealand Open, when he did it again it showed that the first time was not a fluke. Those matches have given Lakshya a lot of confidence that he can do well with top players," she said.

Vimal Kumar, co-founder and director of PPBA, who has always spoken highly of Sen, was pleased with the result.

Speaking from Bengaluru, Kumar told this paper: "Lakshya had a tough draw. He beat junior world No. 1 in the final, Chinese No. 1 in the quarters, Indonesian No. 1 in the semifinals, and Korean No. 1 in the 2nd round (after 1st round bye). He beat them all quite convincingly.

"And, considering that he has been having some injury issues to his shoulder and ankle, this is a very good result for him. All the best countries played in the tournament."

Speaking about the final that he watched on YouTube, Kumar said: "I liked the way he played in crucial stages in both the games. He pulled it out, especially in the second when Thai boy was coming back. He tactically took a small break and pulled it back."

Sen is well on way to becoming the next big thing in Indian badminton. But, he is like any other teenager, said Gokhale.

"He likes his time off the court, watching movies. And when he is on the court, he is concentrating on his game. Off the court, he is quite relaxed and does not get worked up."

Up next for Sen is the $75,000 Vietnam Open Super 100 from August 7-12. "There are a few senior tournaments lined up for him. The targets are set quite high for him. With this Asian win, he should be gaining confidence in those tournaments and should be climbing high in the rankings," said Gokhale.

DID YOU KNOW?

Lakshya Sen is the third Indian badminton player to win gold at the Asia Junior Championships, after Gautam Thakkar (1965) and PV Sindhu (2012). Sindhu had won a bronze as well in 2011, while Sameer Verma won a silver and bronze in 2011 and 2012, respectively. The pair of Pranav Chopra and Prajkta Sawant bagged a bronze in 2009 

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