Lakshya Sen, 15, became the latest junior World No 1 of badminton’s rankings, following in the footsteps of Siril Verma and Aditya Joshi. The Almora, Uttarakhand boy, who has been training at Bangalore’s Prakash Padukone Academy, has benefitted from his regular sparring sessions with Indian star Saina Nehwal with whom he trains, and reached the top of the rankings in the list released on Thursday.

Son of a SAI coach, Sen joined the Bangalore Academy when he was only 10 and receives personal attention from Padukone. Winner of u-19 touraments in Switzerland and Denmark, as well as international series in Pune and Hyderabad, the reigning junior national champion, won bronze at the Asian Juniors last July and is ranked No 212 on the seniors circuit.

Predominantly a rally player, currently good at the grinding game, the tall teenager would need to prop up his aggressive game if he has to make a successful transition into the seniors in four years’ time.

His biggest challenge will come at Yogyakarta, Indonesia, later this year, which will host the Junior World Championships. Olympic medallists Chen Long, Viktor Axelsen and Japanese wonderkid Kento Momota were all junior world champions, while Saina Nehwal is India’s only junior world champ. Sen’s older brother Chirag, also plays shuttle. He has been supported for long by Olympic Gold Quest and has benefitted from the funding, with regards to exposure to international tournaments – often playing dozens of tournaments abroad, as well as aided by physios and trainers.

He has mixed his seniors and juniors outings well, though it is widely believed that titles rather than rankings will give a better indication of his capability in translating his talent into performance. Sen, alongwith Siril and Aditya, are the trio to look forward to, as they make a charge at the topmost junior titles currently held by China.

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