Who is Lakshya Sen? How did he script history at India Open? All you need to know

Lakshya Sen scripted history on Sunday after he became only the third Indian male shuttler to win the India Open singles title. Lakshya won his maiden BWF World Tour Super 500 title after he beat the world champion, Loh Kean Yew, in the final of the India Open last evening. Lakshya defeated Singapore's Kean Yew in two straight games to win his third world championship title. The 20-year-old put on a magnificent performance at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi to win the game by 24-22 21-17. 

Who is Lakshya Sen? 

Lakshya was born on August 16, 2001, in Almora, Uttarakhand. Lakshya comes from a badminton family as his brother Chirag Sen is also an international player, and his father DK Sen is a national-level coach. Lakshya's skill was recognised by his father at a young age, and he was accepted into the Prakash Padukone badminton academy. He impressed his coaches when he won national-level contests at the U13, U15, and U19 levels. 

After winning a bronze medal in the Asia Junior Championships in 2016, Lakshya swiftly climbed to prominence. Lakshya then competed at the senior international level and won the men's singles title at the 2016 India International Series. In 2018, Lakshya won his first gold medal at the Asia Junior Championships after defeating Thailand's Kunlavut Vitidsam 21-19, 21-18. Lakshya also won a bronze medal at the World Junior Championships the same year by beating Kunlavut again. 

Lakshya had a busy year in 2018, winning a silver medal at the Youth Olympic Games after defeating China's Li Shifeng. Lakshya won his first BWF World Tour title in 2019 following his win at the Dutch Open, where he beat Japan's Yusuke Onodera. He won his second BWF World Tour title the same year after securing first place at SaarLorLux Open in Germany. Lakshya has so far won seven titles and three runners-up trophies at BWF International Series since 2016. 

Earlier last year, Lakshya settled for the bronze medal at the World Championships in Spain after losing to fellow compatriot Kidambi Srikanth. In 2021, Lakshya won a silver medal at the Dutch Open after losing to his India Open opponent Kean Yew. 

Image: Badminton Association of India