 "Exclusive | 'Just wanted to enjoy badminton': Lakshya Sen says 'mental shift' helped him triumph at Australia Open")
Lakshya Sen capped an underwhelming 2025 season with a title at the Australian Open Super 500 tournament last week in Sydney. The win helped him finish a highly challenging season on a high after ordinary performances throughout the year.
The 24-year-old had made it to the semifinals of the Paris Olympics but could not win a medal. Things were expected to take off for Sen after the Paris high, however, his performance took a hit.
The result in Sydney was a morale booster and Sen says that more than on-court changes, it is the mental shift that helped him come back on track. In an exclusive interaction with Firstpost, Sen shared how a mental coach helped him bounce back from poor results since the Olympics.
Australian Open win a ‘great feeling’
“It is a great feeling to end the season on a good note. This season has been quite challenging in a lot of ways. The starting part of the season, I was also injured a little bit. But eventually how the season ended I am happy with that,” Sen said.
“Happy with the way I’m playing and hope to continue this momentum in 2026,” he added.
2026 is going to be a big year for the Indian shuttlers as they would be expected to bring home medals from the Commonwealth and the Asian Games.
‘Mental shift helped me’
While he earned a lot of praise for his Paris Olympics outings, he also has attracted criticism for poor consistency since then.
“Post Paris Olympics, the result did not come even though I was playing at a high level… I was participating in tournaments but not getting the results. Maybe, I was hurrying up a little bit. That is when I thought a lot and was also working with a mental coach,” Sen said.
As the year progressed, Lakshya managed to get better results. In August, he made it to the semifinal of Macau Open. Soon after the first-round exit in the World Championships, he made it to the final of Hong Kong Open in September and finally won the title in Sydney last week.
When asked about the changes he has made in his game to get better results, he said the shift was purely mental.
“It was a lot more mental than anything else… The shift came in more as a mental shift where I just wanted to enjoy badminton and not think too many things that what happened in the past or what will happen in the future. That there is a tournament in three weeks and I have to win it because I haven’t won anything in last eight months.
I just sat down and told myself that even if it takes me 10 more tournaments, 20 more tournaments to clear the first round, I am ready do that. But I just want at this point to focus on just the next training, next session, next day and the next match,” he said.
Watch the full conversation here:
#FirstSports: @lakshya_sen won the Australian Open Crown. This was India's first title in badminton in 2025. After the historic achievement, Lakshya Sen in an exclusive interview with @RuphaRamani reflected on the magnitude of this win. pic.twitter.com/7qFW7JlkaP
— Firstpost (@firstpost) November 30, 2025
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