Lessons from defeats, training in Marseille: Lakshya Sen promises his best in Olympic debut

File photo of Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen

Paris Olympics 2024: “In India, the actual recognition is the Olympics although there are other big events as well such as All England. But the main target for everyone is Olympics and our target is to win gold at the Olympics,” Laskshya Sen's father DK Sen, also a badminton coach, had told the journalist after his son won bronze at the BWF World Championships almost three years back. Well Lakshya is now ready to make his big Olympic debut, but the badminton star is not burdening himself by getting over ambitious. In fact, Lakshya, who is currently training in Marseille (a city in France), is aware about the challenge that lies ahead, and plans to take one match at a time.

Lakshya is clubbed in a group, which has current world No. 3 Jonatan Christie (Indonesia), alongside Guatemala's Kevin Cordon, and Belgium's Julien Carraggi.

While Lakshya has 100 percent record against Carraggi (2-0) and Cordon (1-0), the Indonesian is the toughest challenge. If we look at Christie's current form, he has been at the top of his game, securing two major titles -- Asia Championships and All England Open -- in the lead up to the Olympics. Lakshya, however, backs his training to help him overcome the Indonesian - an opponent who has defeated him in the last four outings.

Sharing his thoughts on this particular challenge, Lakshya said: "I think last two-three times we have played, it has been close encounters. So I'll be watching those matches as well and try what I can do better from the last time."

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In addition, the catch here is that only the group topper will advance to the round of 16, so Lakshya will have to defeat his nemesis to remain alive in the competition.

"It's a tough group so I'm thinking about the first match and winning the group. I feel really prepared to go out there and perform my best. The training has been good and now it's just a matter of going there (Paris), settling in and being ready for each match. And yes I'll just take one match at a time as of now and give my best at the Olympics," remarked the 22-year-old shuttler to a query by Moneycontrol on his ambitions at the upcoming Games.

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How is training in Marseille helping Lakshya

During the interaction, Lakshya also emphasised that he did want to take part at the Canada Open, but couldn't due to visa problems. However, he is well over it and is satisfied with the amount of training he has done before the Paris Games. The shuttler from Almora, Uttarakhand, confirmed he'll be heading for the Games Village on the 22nd, which is approximately three hours away from Marseille.

In Paris he'll be training for three-four days, which he believes will give him enough time to settle down and be ready for the matches. Lakshya also passed insights on his training and life at Marseille, how it has been helping him adjust to conditions in France.

"We have a team of 10 members here. And we have a setup here with Popov Brothers, who are a good sparring as well and mainly to come here early and get used to the time zones, the sleeping patterns.

"I would say the shuttle speed also matters a lot because in Bangalore (Prakash Padukone Academy) it is quite fast. So when we train in a different place like Marseille, which is closer to the sea, the shuttle travels much slower and I think it will be somewhat similar in Paris as well. Obviously the drift and air conditions will be a little bit different but it makes a lot of difference."

Apart from the Popov Brothers, Lakshya also has the company of his brother and two other players -- Kiran George and Ayush Shetty -- apart from the physio, the strength and conditioning coach, and the Korean coach.