Lakshya Sen to feature in Lin Dan's King Cup International

Indian badminton star Lakshya Sen will take part in the inaugural King Cup International Badminton Open 2024 starting on Friday in Shenzhen, China from 27th December to 29th December.

The 23-year-old from Almora, who ended a title drought with his triumph at the Syed Modi Super 300 tournament in Lucknow earlier this month, will face some of the best men’s singles players in the world during the three-day event.

Lakshya will face Hong Kong's Angus Ng Ka Long in the first round of the competition which will feature a total of ten matches.

The tournament will feature eight men's singles players going for the title.

Paris Olympics silver medallist Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand and world number 2 Anders Antonsen of Denmark are the highest-ranked players in the competition, which will not offer any ranking points as it is not part of the BWF calendar.

Other notable players include former world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore and Frenchman Alex Lanier. China will be represented by two 18-year-olds, Hu Zhe An and Wang Zi Jun.

What is the King Cup International Badminton Open?

The tournament is the brainchild of two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan of China and will feature eight men's singles players. Since it's not part of the BWF circuit, it won't have any ranking points.

Sunday will also witness an exhibition match between Dan and Indonesia’s Taufik Hidayat. Hidayat is also a retired shuttler and the 2004 Olympics champion.

On Thursday, Lakshya took part in the trophy presentation ceremony and shared a picture with Lin Dan captioning it, "Honored to share space with the legend himself, Lin Dan absolute idol."