Indian ace shuttler Lakshya Sen has seen a lot of ups and downs in the last couple of years. However, he has shown great character to fight through the difficulties as he now aims to break into the top 8 of the BWF World Rankings by doing well at the World Championships in Copenhagen.
The youngster secured the Bronze medal at the World Championships in 2021 and will look to replicate or do even better this time in Copenhagen as the event starts on August 21. A good performance at the World Championships will also boost his morale for the upcoming 2023 Asian Games scheduled in Hangzhou in China.
Sen’s main aim is to do well and gather as many points as possible to get into the top eight and then he will gradually think about breaking into the top five. He also has one eye on next year’s Paris Olympics as well.
“I would want myself to be in the world top 8 soon and then the aim would be to be in top 5 as the Olympic qualification ends. The priority is to win big tournaments and the ranking will take care of itself,” Lakshya told PTI.
Sen has good experience of playing big events and that’s what he says regarding the Asian Games where once again he will try to give his best. He has done well in the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham where he won the gold medal in Men’s Singles and also bagged silver in the mixed team event. Then, he was good in the Thomas Cup as well which India won last year in Bangkok.
So the youngster generally steps up to the big occasion and hopefully, he will do the same in the upcoming 2023 Asian Games. Speaking about the event, Sen said,” It is a really big event and it comes once in four years, so it is a special one. I have played such big events twice in my career. I played in the Youth Olympics and the Commonwealth Games, so meeting all the players and watching different sports is a big learning experience for me. I’m looking forward to doing well in the Asian Games but, as of now, the first priority is the World Championships.”
Sen had a decent 2022 but his rankings tumbled after the World Championships as he slipped from sixth to 25th. He suffered some injuries and also went on a hiatus to gather his thoughts and returned stronger by winning the title in Canada Open. He also reached the semifinals in US Open and Japan Open.
Currently ranked 11th in the world, Sen will have to be at the top of his game to reach his desired target. He is the second highest-ranked singles player in India after HS Prannoy who is 9th in the world.
