Lakshya Sen

Lakshya Sen (born 16 August 2001) is an Indian badminton player. He has won bronze at the World Championships and gold at the Commonwealth Games. Sen won gold and bronze at the Thomas Cup, and silver at the Asian and Commonwealth Games in team events. He also won bronze at the Asia Team and Asia Mixed Team Championships. Sen competed in the men's singles event at the 2024 Olympics, where he finished fourth after narrowly losing the bronze medal match.

Early life Sen was born on 16 August 2001 to parents Nirmala and Dhirendra Sen in the Almora district of Uttarakhand. They shifted to Bangalore for the sake of his badminton career. Sen is a third generation shuttler from his family. His grandfather Chandra Lal Sen and his father were badminton players. His elder brother Chirag Sen is also a professional shuttler.

Career 2009: Early steps Sen was about ten years old when he walked into Vimal Kumar's office at the Karnataka Badminton Association in Bengaluru, stood on his toes to reach the table and gave him a handwritten note with scoreline details. He wanted to join the academy to get better at badminton to beat his opponents.

2016: Junior level tournaments

Having trained at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy, Sen showed his talent as a badminton player at a young age. In 2014, he won the Swiss Junior International. He also had a brilliant year in the 2016 junior badminton circuit. He won the bronze medal at the Junior Asian Championship after losing to Sun Feixiang 12–21, 16–21. Coincidently, Sen lost to Sun again in the pre-quarters of Junior World Championship 21–17, 8–21 and 13–21. His team finished 8th in the team event. Sen then competed at the senior international level and won the 2016 India International Series tournament title.

2017: World junior #1 Sen started off at Syed Modi International where he lost in pre-quarters to compatriot Sourabh Verma 14–21, 16–21. He then became the number one junior singles player in BWF World Junior ranking in February 2017. At the Junior Asian Championship, Sen was seeded as No.1 but lost in the pre-quarters to Lin Chun-yi 21–13, 23–25 and 20–22. Sen reached the Quarter-finals of Vietnam Open before losing to Kodai Naraoka 21–17, 21–23 and 10–21. Sen was then seeded as No. 2 at the Junior World Championship but in the quarter-finals, he lost to Kodai Naraoka 21–14, 17–21, 14–21.

2018: Asian Junior Champion and Youth Olympics medalist Sen defeated Cheam June Wei, a much higher ranked player than him 21–11, 21–16 in straight games at the New Zealand Open but lost to 2 time Olympic gold medallist and seed No.1 Lin Dan 21–15, 15–21 and 12–21. At the Australian Open, he lost to seed No.7 Lee Cheuk Yiu 20–22, 21–13 and 19–21. Sen emerged as the champion at the 2018 Asian Junior Championships defeating the top seeded World Junior No. 1 Kunlavut Vitidsarn in the final 21–19, 21–18.

At the Hyderabad Open, Sen lost to seed No. 8 Heo Kwang-hee 13–21 and 12–21. Sen defeated seed No.2 Sitthikom Thammasin 21–14, 21–19 at the 2018 Indonesia Masters but lost to seed No.7 Lin Yu-hsien 21–12, 20–21 and 14–21 in the Quarter-finals.

Sen participated at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics as the fourth seeded. He settled for the silver medal in the boys' singles after losing to Chinese player Li Shifeng in straight games 15–21, 19–21. He also competed in the mixed team event, and helped team Alpha win the gold medal.

Sen clinched the bronze medal at the BWF Junior World Championships after losing to the eventual champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn in the semi-finals 22–20, 16–21, 13–21.

2019–2021: Back-to-back tour titles Sen won the 2019 Belgian International tournament by beating Victor Svendsen 21–14 and 21–15. He clinched his first BWF Tour title by winning the Dutch Open title after beating Yusuke Onodera of Japan. In November, he won the Hylo Open held in Saarbrücken, Germany. He defeated China's Weng Hongyang to claim the title. He won the 2019 Scottish Open next, with a victory against Brazilian Ygor Coelho.

Sen was a member of the Indian team which clinched the bronze at 2020 Badminton Asia Team Championships. He reached the 2nd round of 2020 All England Open, his first BWF Super 1000 Tournament before losing to champion and world No.1 Viktor Axelsen 17–21 and 18–21. He lost to Hans-Kristian Vittinghus 21–15, 7–21 and 15–21 in 2nd round of the 2020 Denmark Open. Sen was seeded as No.2 at 2020 Hylo Open but withdrew due to an injury. The Covid-19 pandemic restricted him from playing more international BWF tournaments that year.

In December, he reached the semifinal of the 2021 World Championships where he lost to compatriot Srikanth Kidambi in a hard-fought match 21–17, 14–21, 17–21 and settled for a bronze medal during the edition.

2022: Thomas Cup victory and Commonwealth gold In January, he defeated the reigning world champion Loh Kean Yew in the India Open final, thus clinching his first Super 500 title. Sen defeated him in two straight games 24–22, 21–17. In the German Open, Sen defeated World No.1 Viktor Axelsen in the semifinals, but lost the finals to Kunlavut Vitidsarn. He then defeated World No. 3 Anders Antonsen and World No. 7 Lee Zii Jia to reach the finals of the 2022 All England Open. He lost the finals to Viktor Axelsen 10–21, 15–21.

Sen was a part of the men's team for 2022 Thomas Cup. The team went on to win the final by beating Indonesia 3–0, with him winning his match against Anthony Sinisuka Ginting. He became the Commonwealth champion at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, defeating Ng Tze Yong of Malaysia in the final. Sen was also a part of the team that won the silver in the mixed team event.

2023: Canada Open title and Asian Games silver In February, Sen was a member of the Indian team that clinched the bronze medal at Asia Mixed Team Championships. In July, he defeated China's Li Shifeng in straight sets 21-18, 22-20 in the finals and won the 2023 Canada Open. Sen was a part of the team that won the silver medal in the men's team event at 2022 Asian Games.

2024: 4th at Paris Olympics Sen participated in the Olympic Games held in Paris. He defeated third seeded Jonatan Christie in the group stage and progressed to the knockout stage. After winning against his compatriot Prannoy H. S. in the round of 16, he defeated Chou Tien-chen in the quarter finals. However he was stopped by the second seeded Viktor Axelsen in the semifinal stage. He finished fourth after losing the bronze medal match to Lee Zii Jia, scripting the best ever performance by a male badminton player from India. Post his journey at the Olympics, Sen won the S300 title of Syed Modi International by defeating Singaporean Jason Teh 21-6, 21-7 in a dominating match. He ended the year by winning the bronze medal at the inaugural Kings Cup hosted by icon Lin Dan.

2025–now: Australian Open champion At the 2025 All England Open, he started off with a tricky win against Su Li-yang. He carried the momentum forward in the next round where he faced defending champion Jonatan Christie. Sen won in straight sets with a scoreline of 21–13, 21–10. Through the year, he had few early exits but managed to get to Hong Kong Open final and Denmark Open as well as Hylo Open quarter-finals. His first title of the year came at Australian Open when he beat Yushi Tanaka 21–15, 21–11 to clinch the awaited title.

Coaching Vimal Kumar is his coach while former player Prakash Padukone is his mentor. For brief periods of time, Sen has been coached by Yoo Yong-sung. He has also undergone training stints under Morten Frost and Peter Gade. His conditioning coach is Paddy Upton. In addition to his training sessions, Sen takes on ice baths, steam and sauna, and joint mobilisation work routines.

Awards and nominations

Achievements World Championships Men's singles Year Venue Opponent Score Result 2021 Palacio de los Deportes Carolina Marín, Huelva, Spain Srikanth Kidambi 21–17, 14–21, 17–21 Bronze Bronze

Commonwealth Games Men's singles Year Venue Opponent Score Result 2022 National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham, England Ng Tze Yong 19–21, 21–9, 21–16 Gold Gold

Youth Olympic Games Boys' singles Year Venue Opponent Score Result 2018 Tecnópolis, Buenos Aires, Argentina Li Shifeng 15–21, 19–21 Silver

World Junior Championships Boys' singles Year Venue Opponent Score Result 2018 Markham Pan Am Centre, Markham, Canada Kunlavut Vitidsarn 22–20, 16–21, 13–21 Bronze Bronze

Asia Junior Championships Boys' singles Year Venue Opponent Score Result 2016 CPB Badminton Training Center, Bangkok, Thailand Sun Feixiang 12–21, 16–21 Bronze Bronze 2018 Jaya Raya Sports Hall Training Center, Jakarta, Indonesia Kunlavut Vitidsarn 21–19, 21–18 Gold Gold

World Tour (6 titles, 4 runners-up) The World Tour was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018. It's a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation. The BWF World Tour is divided into levels of World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300, and the BWF Tour Super 100.

Men's singles Year Tournament Level Opponent Score Result Ref 2019 Dutch Open Super 100 Yusuke Onodera 15–21, 21–14, 21–15 Winner 2019 Hylo Open Super 100 Weng Hongyang 17–21, 21–18, 21–16 Winner 2022 India Open Super 500 Loh Kean Yew 24–22, 21–17 Winner 2022 German Open Super 300 Kunlavut Vitidsarn 18–21, 15–21 Runner–up 2022 All England Open Super 1000 Viktor Axelsen 10–21, 15–21 Runner–up 2023 Canada Open Super 500 Li Shifeng 21–18, 22–20 Winner 2024 Syed Modi International Super 300 Jason Teh 21–6, 21–7 Winner 2025 Hong Kong Open Super 500 Li Shifeng 15–21, 12–21 Runner–up 2025 Australian Open Super 500 Yushi Tanaka 21–15, 21–11 Winner 2026 All England Open Super 1000 Lin Chun-yi 15–21, 20–22 Runner–up

International Challenge / Series (7 titles, 3 runners-up) Men's singles Year Tournament Opponent Score Result 2016 India International Series Lee Zii Jia 11–13, 11–3, 11–6 Winner 2017 Bulgarian Open Zvonimir Đurkinjak 18–21, 21–12, 21–17 Winner 2017 India International Series Chong Yee Han 21–15, 17–21, 21–17 Winner 2017 India International Challenge Sitthikom Thammasin 21–15, 14–21, 19–21 Runner–up 2018 India International Challenge Kunlavut Vitidsarn 21–15, 21–10 Winner 2019 Polish Open Kunlavut Vitidsarn 17–21, 14–21 Runner–up 2019 Belgian International Victor Svendsen 21–14, 21–15 Winner 2019 Scottish Open Ygor Coelho 18–21, 21–18, 21–19 Winner 2019 Bangladesh International Leong Jun Hao 22–20, 21–18 Winner 2021 Dutch Open Loh Kean Yew 12–21, 16–21 Runner–up BWF International Challenge tournament BWF International Series tournament BWF Future Series tournament

Junior International (2 titles, 1 runner-up) Boys' singles Year Tournament Opponent Score Result 2014 Swiss Junior International B. M. Rahul Bharadwaj 11–5, 11–6, 6–11, 11–6 Winner 2015 India Junior International Chirag Sen 21–18, 21–15 Winner 2017 German Junior International Lee Chia-hao 21–19, 11–21, 18–21 Runner–up BWF Junior International Grand Prix tournament BWF Junior International Challenge tournament BWF Junior International Series tournament BWF Junior Future Series tournament

Performance timeline

Tournaments Senior events

Junior events

World Tour

Record against opponents Record against Year-end Finals finalists, World Championships semi-finalists, and Olympic quarter-finalists. Accurate as of 3 March 2026.

Player Matches Win Lost Diff Victor Lai 2 1 1 0 Lin Dan 2 0 2 –2 Shi Yuqi 6 2 4 –2 Zhao Junpeng 1 1 0 +1 Chou Tien-chen 9 5 4 +1 Viktor Axelsen 9 1 8 –7 Anders Antonsen 8 3 5 –2 Hans-Kristian Vittinghus 4 2 2 0 Christo Popov 8 6 2 +4 Kevin Cordón 2 2 0 +2 Srikanth Kidambi 3 0 3 –3

Player Matches Win Lost Diff Parupalli Kashyap 1 1 0 +1 Prannoy H. S. 9 6 3 +3 Anthony Sinisuka Ginting 3 3 0 +3 Kento Momota 3 1 2 –1 Kodai Naraoka 8 2 6 –4 Lee Zii Jia 7 5 2 +3 Loh Kean Yew 10 7 3 +4 Heo Kwang-hee 2 0 2 –2 Son Wan-ho 1 0 1 –1 Kunlavut Vitidsarn 11 4 7 –3 Kantaphon Wangcharoen 6 4 2 +2