Lakshya Sen becomes second youngest Indian to win BWF World Championships medal

The young Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen has assured India of their second medal in the BWF World Championships 2021. This comes just an hour after Kidambi Srikanth defeated Mark Caljouw of the Netherlands in straight games to ensure the first medal for India in this edition.

Up against Zhao Jun Peng of China, the 20-year-old toiled Indian for 1 hour 7 minutes to register a 21-15, 15-21, 22-20 victory. While it seemed as if Lakshya would easily go past the world number 42 at the end of the first game, Peng had other ideas.

The Chinese shutter stepped up his game in the second set and troubled the Indian for a major portion of the third game before Lakshya controlled his nerves to clinch the contest and a spot in the semifinal.

With this win, Lakshya Sen joins an elite list of Indian men shuttlers to have clinched the BWF World Championship medal. While Prakash Padukone bagged the bronze in 1983, Sai Praneeth followed the same suit in 2019. Lakshya and Srikanth are now assured of at least matching their countrymen when they take on each other tomorrow.

Sen is also the second youngest Indian shuttler after PV Sindhu to clinch a World Championship medal. The double Olympic medallist was just 18 when she clinched the bronze in 2013. At 20 years of age, Sen is also the youngest Indian male to win a BWF World Championships medal.