The silence of the backstage corridors at Utilita Arena Birmingham offered a stark contrast to the deafening roar of the All England final. For Lakshya Sen, the walk after the 2026 title match was a time of quiet reflection.
In the end, the All England Open final was a 57-minute test of determination swung in favor of Lin Chun-yi from Chinese Taipei. As the adrenaline started to wear off, replaced by the familiar pain of a Super 1000 campaign, the 24-year-old found himself in a space that was vastly different from his previous appearances on this stage.
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In 2022, the younger, more combustible Lakshya reached the finals as a whirlwind of kinetic energy, falling to the legendary Viktor Axelsen. He was a prodigy of Indian badminton back then and played with a freedom that could not be lost. Four years later, the face was slimmer, the movement more economical and the thinking significantly deeper. Despite a 15-21, 20-22 scoreline that marked his fifth straight defeat to the formidable Lin Chun-yi, Sen’s composure remained unshaken.
“When I first got to the final in 2022, I think I was still dreaming the whole week,” Sen, the world number 12, said during a media interaction, speaking with a calmness that suggested his Zen regimen was not just a media buzzword but a lived reality.
“It’s such a big tournament and reaching the final felt surreal. I played freely and enjoyed the experience without too many expectations. This time, when I got to the later stages, the quarter-finals and semi-finals, I felt much more prepared. I’ve played more big tournaments now and I understand how to handle pressure situations better.”
Losing to Lin was bittersweet. While the scoreboard showed defeat, internal metrics showed evolution winning. In 2022, Lakshya admitted that he felt the match against Axelsen was slipping away and was simply trying to enjoy the spectacle.
In 2026, belief was absolute. “I really believed that I could win the tournament. That belief stayed with me all week. I knew that if I did some things well, I could win. That’s why I was so close again, which I was proud of and also a little disappointed.”
ARCHITECTURE Maturity
To understand the Lakshya Sen of 2026, we have to look back to the summer of 2024. In Paris, Lakshya was a few points away from becoming the first Indian to win an Olympic medal in badminton. The subsequent loss in the bronze medal match was a potentially career-defining trauma. For the 22-year-old, the weight of the nation’s expectations coupled with the proximity of a podium finish was a heavy burden.
The journey back was not linear. While he found a brief respite at the end of 2024 by winning the Syed Modi Super 300, the start of 2025 was plagued by a loss of form and a series of nagging injuries. A first-round exit at the World Championships in Paris felt like salt in an unhealed wound. But at the end of 2025, a semi-final run at the Japan Masters and an Australian Open title signaled that the “rebuild” phase was over. The climb has begun.
“After the Paris Olympics, I grew as a player and tried to take things my own way,” said Lakshya.
“Coming back from such a big loss and getting back on the circuit is not easy. But over time you learn to accept both wins and losses as part of the journey. Expectations increased especially after Paris, but I tried to keep things mentally simple. I tried to focus on one match at a time and not think about winning every tournament.”
This shift from outcome-oriented anxiety to process-oriented stability was the cornerstone of its current form. At the start of the year, his coach Vimal Kumar laid out a clear plan. Kumar noted that with the immense depth in the men’s singles, where any player in the top 30 could beat another on their day, temperament will be the deciding factor. The goal was simple: get back into the top 8 and win at least three major titles to prove consistency.
Sen responded by becoming a model of efficiency. He cruised through a shark-infested draw all week in Birmingham, stunning world number one Shi Yuqi in an epic opening round and dismantling world number six Li Shi-feng in the quarter-finals. He then cut off a diligent Victor Lai in the semi-finals which lasted one hour and 37 minutes. The erratic brilliance of his youth has been replaced by a reliable, high-level baseline.
THE SCIENCE OF PEAKING
One of the most significant changes in Lakshya’s setup was his approach to his own physiology. At 24, he was far from old, but he was old enough to respect the toll the modern game took on the body. The sport became a high-intensity test of endurance, and Sen adapted his lifestyle accordingly.
“The sport has become extremely physical,” he said.
“And with age — even though I’m not old — you start to notice little differences in recovery. When I was 21 or 22, I could eat anything and recover quickly, but now I have to be more careful with my diet and recovery routines. There’s been a little shift in taking care of recovery more. I’m still trying and I like learning new things when it comes to recovery.”
This focus on longevity has led to a more selective approach to the BWF tour. Sen and his team have learned from their build-up to 2024 in Paris and have now prioritized “peak blocks” rather than chasing every available ranking point. He admitted that he could enter the smaller Super 500 races with 80% fitness just to maintain his position and save 100% physical and mental performance for the Super 1000 and the major championships.
“Physically, you can’t be at your absolute best throughout the year. So you have to pick the weeks you want to be at your peak. Before the big tournaments, you try to have good weeks of training where you focus on skill, fitness and staying fresh. At events like the All England or the upcoming World Cup, you want to play well, stay very fresh, have a good week of training with a fresh mindset.”
MASTER MIND
Lakshya Sen learned to trust the process, not chase the result (AP Photo)
The final piece of the puzzle was his work with mental fitness coach Mon Brockman. Over the past year, the partnership has helped Sen deconstruct the emotional volatility that often plagued young athletes. The goal was to separate his self-worth from the outcome of a single match.
“Working with him for almost a year has helped me learn many things about mental training and approach big tournaments differently,” said Lakshya.
“One important thing I learned was that not every tournament has the same weight. Some tournaments are part of preparation, while others are the big ones where you really want to peak. You also learn not to take each loss too personally because you lose a lot of games throughout the season and you win some too. It’s important to keep learning and improving.”
That perspective allowed him to walk off the court in Birmingham with his head held high, even as fatigue set in towards the end. He described a conversation with his father DK Sen and the coaches where they discussed the extra motivation needed for big events. In the past, a bad practice week could turn into a bad tournament. Now the Zen version of Lakshya Sen understood that once the lights came on, preparation was secondary to the will to find a way to win.
Tactically, this mental clarity has allowed him to refine his playing style. He was no longer just an explosive striker; he developed a sophisticated defensive grenade and waited for the precise moment to launch his signature counterattacks.
“I want to play a certain style of play that suits me, to have a good defense and go on the counter-attack. A lot of physicality comes with time as well. Recovery, fitness and load management have become more important.”
IT MOVES AT ITS OWN PACE
As the 2026 season unfolded, the focus now shifted to the Asian Badminton Championship, the World Championship and the Asian Games. For Sen, the climb was no longer a desperate sprint to the top of the leaderboard. It was about establishing a permanent residence there.
He returned home to sit with his squad, analyze footage from across England and break down the training block that had preceded it. There was no panic, just a quiet, methodical pursuit of perfection. The disappointment of the final was already being transformed into fuel for the next peak.
“As a little kid, you wanted to win all those tournaments,” he said, looking to the future.
“Yes, I’ve played well in the past too. But now it’s about composure in winning and losing. The aim is to keep improving the things that work and improving the areas where I can improve.”
In the hyper-competitive world of elite badminton, Lakshya Sen has found his center. He was no longer the underdog who wanted to subvert the order; he was a mature contender who knew he belonged. The climb was slow, the path steep, but Lakshya was finally moving at his own pace.
– The end
Issued by:
Akshay Ramesh
Published on:
March 11, 2026 10:55 AM IST
