Lakshya Sen needs belief in process, no quick fixes on the road to revival

It was a mismatch, based on form. Lakshya Sen, ranked 21 in the world, had drawn the short straw — facing top seed Shi Yuqi in the very first round of the BWF World Championships. Sen had endured a brutal year on the circuit with seven opening-round defeats weighing down his confidence. Shi, by contrast, arrived in Paris having swept three Super 1000 titles, including the All England Open, and carrying the swagger of a man who could scarcely put a foot wrong.

And yet, for 54 minutes inside the arena in Paris, the form book did not tell the whole story. Sen’s defeat — 17-21, 19-21 — marked his earliest exit at the Worlds, but it was not a one-sided affair. For a young shuttler battling doubts and the ghosts of his Olympic heartbreak in the same city a year ago, there were flashes of the old Lakshya: bold, resilient, and unafraid of taking on the very best.

But flashes are not enough at this level, and they have not been enough for some time now. The 24-year-old’s lean patch, stretching nearly 18 months, has become a test not just of his physical sharpness but also of his mental resolve.

‘ONE OF HIS BETTER MATCHES THIS YEAR’

His long-time mentor, former national coach Vimal Kumar, chose to see the positives even in defeat.

“I think it was better. One of his better performances in the last many months,” Kumar told India Today. “I would say this was one of his better matches in the whole year. But it was unfortunate that he had to run into an in-form Shi Yuqi. Maybe Lakshya doesn’t need to feel so despondent because at least, going ahead, there are positives to take.”

There were indeed passages when Sen seemed on the cusp of turning it into a three-game thriller. In the second game, he clawed his way back from 7-11 to level at 19-19, only to blink in the closing moments as Shi shut the door with ruthless efficiency. In a contest that began with a lung-busting 47-shot rally, Sen showed he could stay in the grind, but not quite deliver the knockout punch.

At the highest level, such lapses are decisive. “In the first game it’s the unforced errors that are costing him,” Kumar observed. “He can be a little more sharp in that regard because at the highest level, when you do that, you don’t get a reprieve. Shi also gives away easy points, but in crucial stages, he is very sharp and ups the pace. Lakshya could have been a bit more cautious with his lead in the first game. The difference isn’t much in these sort of games.”

Yet the broader concern for Sen lies not in one missed chance but in the prolonged pattern.

SELF DOUBT CREEPING IN?

Monday’s loss was his eighth opening-round defeat of the season. The quarter-final run at the All England in March now feels like an outlier in a year otherwise punctuated by injuries, inconsistency, and hesitancy.

“Definitely, lack of confidence,” Kumar admitted when asked about the toll of a year-long slump on a young shuttler. “At this stage, his mind is definitely letting him down. You are thinking about it (the lean patch). You need to find ways to be in the present. That’s easy for all of us to say, but he has to find a way to deal with it. There’s no real quick solution. You know what needs to be done, but don’t think too much.”

Once hailed for his ability to turn defence into attack and rain down smashes at will, Sen has looked passive of late. Against Shi too, he often lifted from the front court instead of seizing the chance to finish points. His smashes, robbed of sting since shoulder surgery, rarely pierced through.

“I still feel he needs to get the timing right,” Kumar said. “The punch has to come back. After the shoulder surgery, that is lacking a bit. He is working on that, I hope he gets that flow back. A bit of luck is also required, which has been deserting him in the last one and one-and-a-half years.”

THE DANGER OF DESPARATION

In these moments of crisis, athletes are often tempted to tear everything down and rebuild from scratch. Kumar believes that would be a mistake.

“There is no quick fix,” he insisted. “It all comes down to how you apply yourself. You need to create these tough situations in practice. It’s not for too long. It’s just the crucial 5-10 minutes. You might not have a rival to play like that in India in practice sessions. That’s why he plays one against two, one against three. You have to earn it in such drills. Such drills have to be done more. That’s just one way of getting out of it.”

Importantly, Kumar cautioned against chasing too many remedies at once. “He should not desperately look for solutions. I keep telling him this. If some psychologist can do some magic, I will be very happy to see him or her. It’s easy to talk, but at that level it has to be solved on the court. I just want him to be simple. He knows his shortcomings. He needs to just create situations in training and address it.”

The message, then, is clear: stop searching for a miracle cure. Trust the process, and trust time.

COURAGE UNDER PRESSURE

If there was one intangible that lifted Sen into the world’s top 10 in the previous Olympic cycle, it was his fearlessness — the courage to take risks at crucial stages. That edge, Kumar feels, has dulled.

“Yes, exactly — passive when playing the attacking game,” he said. “He shouldn’t worry too much about the consequences. We have been talking about it. That courage he has to show. Keeping it going doesn’t mean he has to play slow. All the anxiety is definitely letting him down.”

To rediscover that fearless version of himself is easier said than done. But Kumar is convinced that it remains within Sen’s reach.

“He is one of our mainstays in badminton. I don’t want him to stray away. He has to win a 750 or a 1000 tournament. That’s the only way he is going to get back his confidence. I am still very hopeful.”

LESSONS FROM PARIS

For Sen, Paris is a venue that now symbolises both promise and pain. A year ago, at the Olympics, he came agonisingly close to a medal — losing a semi-final to Viktor Axelsen from a winning position before being denied bronze by Lee Zii Jia. Monday’s defeat to Shi Yuqi adds another difficult chapter in the city.

But if Paris has been unforgiving, it has also revealed Sen’s resilience. Against the world’s best, he has shown he can still stand his ground. And that, as Kumar emphasised, is reason to keep believing.

“I was thinking maybe Lakshya could pull things around,” Kumar reflected. “Yes, Shi Yuqi has been winning. But for any top player, a bad phase comes. I thought Lakshya had a chance. The difference isn’t much in these sorts of games. Considering what he has been going through, this was better. Maybe he can take a little bit of positives for the rest of the season.”

TIME STILL ON HIS SIDE

At 24, time is still on Lakshya Sen’s side. Few shuttlers enjoy a career free of setbacks; almost every champion has endured their wilderness years. What matters is how he emerges from this stretch.

For Kumar, the advice is as much about patience as it is about hard work: stay present, simplify the process, and resist the urge to chase after too many solutions.

In other words, don’t let desperation take over.

Because while Monday’s defeat might read like another first-round exit, for those watching closely, it also felt like the beginning of a possible return. If Sen can channel the lessons of Paris, lean into his training, and rediscover the fearless young man who once lit up the world stage.