Lakshya Sen speaks to Republic after Thomas Cup win; shares his thrilling comeback secret

The young lads of India's badminton squad made history after they thrashed Indonesia 3-0 to register a dominating victory and clinch the maiden Thomas Cup 2022 on May 15. India's victory is significant as it went past the semi-finals for the first time ever since the tournament began 73 years ago and defeated the 14-time world champion in Bangkok, Thailand. In addition to the rest of the team, the final victory resulted from impressive performances by shuttlers Lakshya Sen, the doubles pair of Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty and Kidambi Srikanth. 

In an exclusive conversation with Republic Media Network, Lakshya Sen, one of the contributors to winning the cup revealed how he felt after winning the trophy and how he managed to pull a comeback. "It's a really special feeling for all of us and everyone in the team did really well. We came all together as a team and it's totally a team effort that we are seeing today", he said.

Lakshya was the first contender from India who gave India a lead in the finals by defeating Indonesia's Anthony Ginting by 8-21, 21-17, 21-16 in a close encounter. While he lagged behind in the first set, Lakshya bounced back in the following two sets to give India a 1-0 lead. Talking about his comeback, he said that he started from the faster end of the court where conditions were a bit different. "He (Ginting) started on a better end and then he took the first game. But I always had that belief that when the sides will change, I will definitely have an advantage".

However, the final set again brought Lakshya back to the faster end where he admittedly said it was "really hard to control the shuttle". The young shuttler still managed to end the competition with a five-point lead and stated that "the last 11 points that I scored were really crucial". 

It's like a festival for us: Lakshya's mother

Speaking with Republic after India's emphatic victory, Lakshya's mother Nirmala Sen said that the win is like a festival and compared the celebrations to the Indian cricket team's first-ever world cup victory in 1983. She also said that the victory will provide a big boost to badminton in India and revealed that the phone has not stopped ringing after the Thomas Cup win. Many prominent sports personalities as well as Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the Indian Men's badminton team and congratulated them for the historic win.

Elated with the performance, the Badminton Association of India (BAI) president Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday announced an award of Rs 1 crore for the players and a cash prize of Rs 20 lakh for the support staff of the team