2022 Commonwealth Games: Lakshya Sen's CWG gold may be a sign of even greater things to come for Indian badminton

He ticked both those boxes at once when he beat Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew, the reigning world champion, convincingly in New Delhi in January.

Beat an Olympic medallist? Done, at this year’s German Open in March, when he brushed Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Anthony Ginting aside in the round of 16.

Beat the current Olympic champion? In the pocket, with perhaps the finest performance of his career so far, when he showed his grit and nerve to claw back from a game down against Tokyo gold medallist and world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen from Denmark, inarguably the most consistent and deadly player on the circuit for some time now, and win his semi-final encounter at the German Open.

Beat the reigning All England champion? Yes, at the All England semis, when he beat Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia in an absolutely nerve-wracking encounter, defending with his life, attacking with courage and cunning, to make his way to the final of the storied tournament in just his first appearance, before losing to Axelsen in a hard battle.

Win a historic first Thomas Cup for India? Absolutely, when he took Ginting down again in the final in May.

Win India a gold in men’s singles at the Commonwealth Games?

On August 8, that was accomplished too, with a thrilling match where Sen again pulled off a great comeback victory that’s becoming a habit of sorts with him.

Malaysia’s Ng Tze Yong, rising star in his badminton-crazy country, went down in three close games, like he had done earlier this year at the India Open, to the 20-year-old Sen.

It was a yet another joyous moment in this amazing year for Sen, a breakthrough season in which the former junior world No. 1 has proved that he has not only found his feet at the senior level—after making a promising start in 2019 which was then abruptly halted by the pandemic—but also proved that he belongs among the topmost players in the world.

Sen’s immense potential was apparent when he was just nine years old, a small boy from Almora obsessed with the game where his father was a renowned grassroots-level coach of the game. We are talking 2010, when Sen tagged along with his father and older brother Chirag to a domestic junior tournament where Chirag was playing. Vimal Kumar, the director and chief coach of the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy (now also the national coach) was present at the tournament to scout new talent. He wanted to bring Chirag to the PPBA academy in Bengaluru. The younger Sen insisted that he wanted to join too. Kumar gave him a trial and even though he was below the age limit for the academy, Kumar and Padukone decided that his talent was too bright to ignore.

Thus begun a journey that’s led Sen through medals and titles at the Asian junior championships, the world juniors, the Youth Olympics, and everything in between, including being the youngest finalist at the national championship (in 2017, when he was just 15).

But the transition from being a great junior player, no matter how promising, to a great senior player is always immensely tricky. Only a handful make that transition and find themselves playing with the same degree of success. That Sen has managed to do that in such a remarkable fashion is fantastic news for Indian badminton, which seems to be in a more powerful place than it has ever been before.

The CWG was a symbol of that—Sen winning the men’s singles, PV Sindhu winning the women’s singles, and Chirag Shetty and Satwik Rankireddy—a young, highly energetic and effervescent pair who are arguably the best men’s doubles partnership in years in Indian badminton—winning their event.

The next two years, all the way till the end of Paris 2024, may end up being the greatest two years in the history of Indian badminton, a time when the world’s No.1 women’s, men’s and men’s doubles players may all just be Indian.