I’m not afraid of top players: Lakshya

At 20 India shuttler Lakshya Sen may not have loads of experience but his talent and hard work have propelled him into emerging as the next big star of Indian badmintonThe Almora lad trained by the dynamic duo of Prakash Padukone and Vimal Kumar became the only Indian player to reach an international final Dutch Open in the COVIDhit BWF seasonAnd he has been rewarded for his consistency with a spot at the yearending HSBC BWF World Tour Finals where he will rub shoulders with the seasonrsquos top eight shuttlers in Bali Indonesia competing for a whopping USD 15 million prize money from December 1Ranked 5th on World TourSen ranked fifth in the World Tour rankings is the youngest Indian to qualify for this event He is understandably excited ldquoIn the last few weeks I have played against the very best in the world on the circuit so I am confident of playing well in this group I am moving well not getting tired timing my shots well and covering the court nicely I have also been able to select the right shots to play at the right time which is very importantrdquo Sen told midday recentlyFor a youngster taking on the worldrsquos best can be a tough task but Sen insists hersquos not in awe or afraid of his competitors ldquoI will respect the player on the other side of the net but never be in awe of him A player who is afraid of or in awe of his opponent has already lost the match in his mind before it begins The pressure is not on me but on my opponents so I will play freelyrdquo added Sen who will be playing his seventh straight major tournament without a breakSen had made headlines three years ago when he stretched the legendary Lin Dan of China to three games in a Thomas Cup match The Indian claims his game has improved a lot sinceMaturity and patienceldquoI have matured and have learnt to be patient on court Against Lin Dan I was smashing too often at times even when I was not in the right position I have learnt how to avoid that My stroke selection is better too I have also learnt how to analyse my defeatsrdquoexplained Sen The Indian shuttler had aimed to be in the Top 20 this year and has successfully achieved it So whatrsquos next yearrsquos target ldquoI have been reaching the quarterfinals and semifinals of most tournaments in the last two years Now the time has come to win titles Thatrsquos my aim next year That will also propel me into the Top 10 In fact I hope to start winning from the World Tour Finals itselfrdquo he signed offAlso Read IND v NZ 1st Test Shreyas Iyer raises the bar higherThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever