Belgian Open title will give me confidence for future tournaments, says Lakshya Sen
Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen is on a quest to sustain his consistency and break into the top 50 rankings as he feels confident for future tournaments following his Belgian Open win. After a few early exits this year, he suffered an ankle injury in July but recovered well to claim the Belgian Open.
Rising Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen is hoping to sustain the consistency that fetched him the shock win over second seed Victor Svendsen of Denmark to secure the Belgian Open title last Saturday. He looks to break into the top 50 in the world ranking, and qualify for bigger tournaments next season.
“I think I played consistently well throughout the week and I’m happy with my performance,” Lakshya, who didn’t drop a single game throughout the tournament, said to the PTI.
“This win will give me lots of confidence to do well in the coming tournaments. This year I can play more tournaments than last year in the senior circuit and I hope to prepare well for all the tournaments,” he added.
Playing his first full-fledged season in the senior circuit, 18-year-old Lakshya had broken into the top-100 in March this year. The Belgian Open win saw him jump 12 places to grab the World No 67th spot in the latest BWF ranking.
His father DK Sen, an SAI coach, who gave him the early lessons in badminton, said Lakshya will have to quickly get into the top 50 by the year-end.
Asked about his upcoming tournaments, Lakshya, the reigning Asian Junior Championship winner, said: “I’ll be playing the Dutch and SaarLorLux Open next month and then in November, I have Irish and Scottish Open.”
Lakshya is currently in Europe playing for the Aarhus club in the Danish League. “It’s nice to be in Denmark and the league matches are exiting. It’s a new experience for me,” he said.
“We are going to be in Europe for 3 months, play the European circuit and the league matches.
“In the first team match, I won against Jan Jorgensen and got 1 point for the team. It was a big match for me,” added the Indian, whose next tournament in the country will be the Syed Modi World Tour Super 300.
Lakshya, who has been a trainee at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy (PPBA) since 2010, had decided to play in the season circuit after the high in juniors last year when he claimed bronze at the World Junior Championship and silver at Youth Olympic Games. He began the year well with a semifinal finish at the China Masters Super 100 tournament before reaching the finals at Polish Open. After a few early exits, he suffered an ankle injury in July but recovered well to claim the Belgian Open.
“This year, I twisted my ankle in July. It was not very major but I took two weeks to get back on the court. I’m just taking good care and rehab,” Lakshya said. “Mental strength is very important as in senior circuit every match is tough,” he signed off.
