For youngsters, a chance to test themselves against the senior stars

Lakshya Sen, a former junior World No.1, has reached the Round of 16. (Express Photo)

There was a buzz around the technical officials’ desks as the draw was being finalised for the round of 16 of the senior national badminton championships in Nagpur. Moments later, the likes of Kidambi Srikanth, HS Prannoy, Sai Praneeth, Ashwini Ponnappa, and Rio Olympics silver medallist PV Sindhu entered the Divisional Sports Complex. The stars of Indian badminton have been given a direct entry to the pre-quarterfinal stage — a scenario which will allow budding stars test themselves against the best.

In the men’s category, the two youngest players to reach the round of 16 are two trainees of the Prakash Padukone Academy – Lakshya Sen, the 16-year-old who is a former World No.1 and Rahul Bharadwaj, a year older, and once a prodigy in his own right.

Sen won his fourth-round match against Maisnam Meiraba 21-13, 12-21, 21-13, and Bharadwaj cruised to a 21-13, 21-10 win over Rohit Yadav to reach the pre-quarterfinals.

There is anticipation around Bharadwaj progress as he has pulled off the upset of the tournament beating former World No.19 RMV Gurusaidutt in the second round. He faces Ajay Jayaram next.

“I knew the match would go that long,” Bharadwaj said while talking about the 70-minute encounter. “But it gives me a lot of confidence to get such a result against a top player.”

The 2017 season has been Bharadwaj’s first full season after suffering from a knee injury that kept him out of the sport for over a year. A meniscus issue in his right knee, back in July 2015, did not require surgery. But he was advised bed rest. “I had to do that for almost a year,” he says. “There was nothing else I could do. At times I’d just lie there and think about stop playing altogether. But I’ve been playing for so long, I just had to return.”

The Mangalore-lad had taken up the sport early and was selected to the Padukone’s academy when he was just 10. By June this year, he won back to back titles at the junior All India event in Trivandrum, followed by another national title in Bangalore.

This was around the time Sen had begun faltering. The 16-year-old from Uttarakhand, rose to No.1 in the rankings in February — a result of the wins at junior international series in Denmark and Switzerland, and also the bronze he won at the Asian Juniors in July 2016.

But the new ranking had introduced him to a wave of pressure, something he was never experienced before.

“There was a lot of expectation,” Sen said. “I never used to think about it during a match, but when I was off court, people would say things and I needed to deal with it.”

Specifically at the All India event in Bangalore, Sen required counselling from his coaches to help him bounce back. The teenager lost in the semi-finals to Bharadwaj, but didn’t take the loss well.

“He was completely dejected because he knew everyone was expecting him to win,” says Sagar Chopda, a coach at the Prakash Padukone Academy.

“Prakash sir talked to him about his own experiences and told him to keep his head up.”

A week later, he bounced back by winning the Bulgarian Open.

Sen has started working on his mental conditioning and movement. “He’s gotten a lot faster on court,” says Chopda. “At the same time, he’s working on being more patient when he comes against a defensive player.”

Bharadwaj, meanwhile, a competent retriever, has made fitness his biggest strength. “He will never tire during a game. He can keep up with long matches, but also has an instinct to go for a killer shot. That’s how he beat Gurusaidutt,” Chopda adds.

The two youngest men players in the draw have earned the right to get this far, and are now the up against the country’s biggest names in the sport. The closest they have been to truly announcing themselves on the big stage.