Why Lakshya Sen meeting World No 1 Shi Yuqi in Round 1 isn’t bad news
Shi Yuqi is not ideal to face in the first round, but when dreaming of a World Championship medal, isn’t having to beat big names inevitable? (Badminton Photo)
It’s not unprecedented. Lee Chong Wei and even Viktor Axelsen have exited World Championships early as top seeds in the last decade. But Shi Yuqi is on a hot streak of 3/3 Super 1000 titles this year, and 9/9 tournament finals since the start of 2024. So, Indian badminton fans can be excused for their morose mugs at the sight of the World No.1 drawn against Lakshya Sen in the Badminton World Championship draw.
It’s been a long spell of suffering poor results since the Paris Olympics, but Sen has no luxury to sit and mope. Training with the French national team, especially Alex Lanier at INSEP, the French national centre, he is living up to his reputation as a shuttler with a monster work ethic.
