After maiden World C'ships medal, Lakshya Sen says experience gained will help in upcoming tournaments

Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen has said that his "very good" experience of playing in the BWF World Championships would give him the confidence to play in tournaments in the future.

In Huelva, Spain, the 20-year-old Indian was on the opposite side of the result as his senior compatriot Kidambi Srikanth created history by becoming the first shuttler from the country to enter the final in the men's singles category of the World Championships. The youngster had to settle for bronze.

In an all-Indian battle, former world number one Srikanth rallied to defeat Sen by 17-21, 21-14, 21-17 in a thriller that lasted for one hour and nine minutes on Saturday. However, in the summit clash on Sunday Sri was defeated by Singapore's Loh Kean Yew 21-15, 22-20.

"It was a good match against Srikanth in the semi-finals. Yeah, I think it was a very close match and it was good for India two of the men's singles players were in the semis and playing each other. I think before this, only Sindhu and Saina had done this. So it's good that someone from the men's category has done it," Sen told ANI.

Lakshya Sen who made his first world badminton championships appearance knocked out world No. 17 Kenta Nishimoto and Tokyo 2020 semi-finalist Kevin Cordon on his way to the semi-finals before settling for bronze.

"It's good to finish on the podium and win a bronze medal for the country. It was my first World Championships and it turned out a good one for me. It was also a great learning experience for me to play at big events like this," the youngster said.

"It's a very good experience playing in World Tour Finals and World Championships because those two are the biggest events. It will give me a lot of confidence to play in future tournaments."

Sen also talked about how he was exhausted after playing so many tournaments on the trot.

"Yes, definitely when you play a lot of tournaments like I played 8-9 tournaments in a row and I was really exhausted after the Indonesian Open but then we had a break for four-five days before World Championships. It was a very big event for me. Playing for the first time, I was motivated throughout the tournament and I was pushing myself after every match."

"Yeah, it feels good to go back home and spend time with family. I will be taking a short break after this and will relax for while," Almora-born badminton player said.

Sen also opened about the performances of Indian male badminton players in the World Championships, as they -- Sen and Kidambi -- returned with two medals and HS Prannoy reached to the quarter-finals of the World Championships.

"Yes all three of us have played well at the World Championships. Everyone has been there in the top-30 and have been playing a lot of tournaments in the last few months. So, it's a good thing for the Indian badminton, the results came in in this World Championship and everyone was looking good in this tournament," he signed off.

( With inputs from ANI )

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