Lakshya Sen eager to prove mettle in his first Commonwealth Games

Commonwealth Games. The 20-year-old from Almora defeated Loh to win the India Open this January. A couple of months later he came up with a sensational show at the All England Championships, where he became the first Indian to reach the final in two decades. He even dethroned reigning champion Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia. Lakshya , who trains at the Prakash Padukone Academy in Bengaluru, excelled at the junior level before making rapid strides in the senior category. Last December, he stunned many by becoming the youngest Indian man to win a medal at the World Championships, where he lost to Srikanth in the semifinals. The CWG field in men’s singles is weak and it would be a major upset if Lakshya, Srikanth or Loh don’t win in Birmingham. The withdrawal of Lee Zii Jia and Loh’s loss of form have increased the chances of Indian men.

Prakash Padukone (1978), Syed Modi (1982) and Parupalli Kashyap (2014) have won singles gold for India at CWG so far. Srikanth lost in the final in the last edition. While Srikanth has been training in Hyderabad, Lakshya has worked hard with his team led by Vimal Kumar in Bengaluru. Both the shuttlers suffered minor injuries and skipped several tournaments in the run-up to the Games. Since losing to HS Prannoy in the Indonesia Open on June 15, Lakshya has focused on training. “I have been training continuously for the last three weeks. This is my first Commonwealth Games and I am eager to do well,” Lakshya told TOI. Arena Birmingham also hosts the All England Championships and is a familiar venue. “I feel good about returning there. I like the atmosphere at the venue,” he said.

India's history at the Commonwealth Games

The first task for Lakshya and Srikanth is to help their team retain the