Not satisfied with bronze, but big confidence booster: Lakshya Sen

Lakshya Sen returns to Kidambi Srikanth during their semi-final encounter on Saturday. Pic/AFP

Not satisfied with a bronze medal in his maiden World Championships, Lakshya Sen has vowed to go for the gold next time, even as the young shuttler trains his eyes on the All England Championships and 2022 Commonwealth Games.

The shuttler from Almora signed off with a creditable bronze after losing an extremely close semi-final 17-21 21-14 21-17 to seasoned compatriot Kidambi Srikanth on Saturday.

"It has been a long tournament and it is difficult to take such a loss when you are so close. I, at least, got a bronze, but I am not happy. I'm not satisfied with the performance in the semi-finals," said Sen, who squandered a slender 15-13 lead in the decider.

"I played a lot of good matches, faced some tough opponents, even in the semi-final it was a close match, it could have gone in anybody's favour. The medal is something to look forward to...next time I will go for the gold."

With this medal, Sen joined his mentor - the legendary Prakash Padukone (bronze in 1983) and B Sai Praneeth (bronze in 2019) - as the Indian medal winners at the
showpiece.

Focus on All England C'ships

"It is a good thing that in my first world championship, I made it to the semi-finals and joined Prakash sir but I am looking forward to winning many more medals and events like him. Especially, I want to win the All England Championships, like him.

Stepping stone

"The bronze medal is a big confidence booster for me, it is a stepping stone for future tournaments."

Talking about the semi-final, Sen said: "It was a close match overall. In the last game, I made few mistakes in the end and he managed to pull out some quick points, which gave him the advantage. I could have done some things better but it was his day."

Ahead of the semi-finals, Sen played some tough matches during the week with two out of the three contests stretching to three games, including a gruelling quarter-final against China's Zhao Jun Peng. "It is hard to recover when you play three setters. The semi-final was also a physical battle. He had an easy quarter-final compared to me, but it is a game where you have to give your best."

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