Lakshya Sen is an Indian professional badminton player who scripted history in May 2022 as an integral member of the Indian squad that won the ‘Gold’ medal at the Thomas Cup (an international biennial badminton competition among men’s teams representing member nations of the BWF (Badminton World Federation), the sport’s global governing body) for the 1st time in history. India had become just the 6th country to lift the prestigious title after Indonesia (14 titles), China (10), Malaysia (5), Denmark (1), and Japan (1). Representing India, he also clinched the ‘Gold’ medal at the 2018 Jakarta Badminton Asia Junior Championships in the boys’ singles event. He secured the ‘Silver’ medal at the 2018 Buenos Aires Youth Olympic Games in the boys’ singles event. He won the ‘Bronze’ medal at the 2021 Huelva BWF World Championships in the men’s singles event, the 2020 Manila Badminton Asia Team Championships in the men’s team event, the 2018 Markham BWF World Junior Championships in the boys’ singles event, and the 2016 Bangkok Badminton Asia Junior Championships in the boys’ singles event. In March 2022, he had reached his peak world number 9 position in the official BWF men’s singles rankings. Lakshya is also a former world junior number 1, having achieved that ranking in February 2017.
Born Name
Lakshya Sen
Nick Name
Lakshya
Lakshya Sen as seen in an Instagram Post in June 2022 (Lakshya Sen / Instagram)
Sun Sign
Leo
Born Place
Almora, Uttarakhand, India
Residence
Almora, Uttarakhand, India
Nationality
Occupation
Professional Badminton Player
Lakshya Sen as seen in an Instagram Post in October 2021 (Lakshya Sen / Instagram)
Family
Father – Dhirendra K. Sen (Badminton Coach)
Mother – Nirmala Sen (Teacher)
Siblings – Chirag Sen (Brother) (Professional Badminton Player)
Manager
He has been represented by Baseline Ventures, Sports Marketing, Entertainment & Brand Licensing Company, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
Plays
Right-Handed
Build
Athletic
Height
5 ft 10 in or 178 cm
Weight
68 kg or 150 lbs
Lakshya Sen as seen in an Instagram Post in December 2020 (Lakshya Sen / Instagram)
Race / Ethnicity
Asian (Indian)
Hair Color
Black
Eye Color
Dark Brown
Sexual Orientation
Straight
Distinctive Features
Toned physique
Short-cropped, side-parted hair
Affable smile
Clean-shaven look
Brand Endorsements
Lakshya has been sponsored by Yonex Co., Ltd., a Japanese sports equipment manufacturing company.
Lakshya Sen as seen in an Instagram Post in January 2022 (Lakshya Sen / Instagram)
Lakshya Sen Facts
On the BWF World Tour, a series of elite badminton tournaments sanctioned (implemented in 2018) by the BWF, as of July 2022, he had won 3 titles – the 2022 India Open (Super 500), the 2019 SaarLorLux Open (Super 100), and the 2019 Dutch Open (Super 100). He had also reached the final of the 2022 All England Open (Super 1000) and the 2022 German Open (Super 300).
On the BWF International Challenge/Series tier, as of July 2022, he had won 7 titles – the 2016 India International Series, the 2017 India International Series, the 2017 Bulgarian Open, the 2018 Tata Open India International, the 2019 Bangladesh International, the 2019 Scottish Open, and the 2019 Belgian International. He had also reached the final of the 2017 Tata Open India International, the 2019 Polish Open, and the 2021 Dutch Open.
At the 2018 Buenos Aires Youth Olympic Games, representing India, he won the ‘Silver’ medal in the boys’ singles event. He also won a ‘Gold’ medal there in the mixed team event. However, that was while representing Mixed-NOCs (Youth Olympic Games teams consisting of athletes representing different National Olympic Committees (NOCs).
In May 2022, during the group stage of the Thomas Cup, he won his singles match of India’s opening group stage rubber against Germany (21-16, 21-13) to give India a 1-0 lead. India went on to hammer Germany 5-0. He then did not participate in India’s 5-0 sweep of Canada.
In India’s last group stage match, against Taiwan (competing under the name ‘Chinese Taipei’), Lakshya competed in the opening singles match of the rubber but lost a close fight in 3 sets (19-21, 21-13, 17-21) as India went on to lose the overall 5-match rubber by a 3-2 margin, ending the group stage in the 2nd position.
In the quarter-final of the tournament, against 5-time champions, Malaysia, he lost the opening singles match of the rubber in straight sets (21-23, 9-21). India overturned the 0-1 scoreline by winning the doubles match through the pairing of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy & Chirag Shetty and then took a 2-1 lead with Srikanth Kidambi winning his singles match. The score was tied 2-2 after 4 matches (2 singles and 2 doubles). Prannoy H. S. then won the last singles match of the rubber easily (21-13, 21-8) to help India prevail by a 3-2 margin.
In the semi-final, against former champions Denmark, he lost the opening singles match of the rubber in straight sets (13-21, 13-21) again. The rest of the script also played out exactly like India’s quarter-final rubber against Malaysia, with India prevailing by a 3-2 margin and reaching the final match of the Thomas Cup for the first time in history.
In the final of the 2022 Thomas Cup, against hot favorites and 14-time champions Indonesia, the team management, despite him losing 3 opening singles matches in succession, kept their faith in Lakshya. He repaid that trust by defeating Anthony Sinisuka Ginting in 3 sets (8-21, 21-17, 21-16) to hand India an invaluable 1-0 lead. The advantage was driven home by the pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy & Chirag Shetty who won their doubles match by a score of 18-21, 23-21, 21-19, in a nail-biting encounter. Srikanth Kidambi then won his singles match in straight sets to secure a 3-0 win and script a golden chapter in the annals of Indian sporting history.
At the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games, he won the ‘Silver’ medal in the mixed team event and the ‘Gold’ medal in the men’s singles event.
In July 2023, Lakshya won Canada Open after defeating Li Shi Feng of China 21-18, 22-20 in the final.
