Lakshya Sen’s first title of the year came in his very last tournament of a challenging 2025 season and while the Australian Open Super 500 was a good win, it was not exactly an eye-catching achievement. But look closely, and this trophy is more than a morale boost; it’s tangible payoff after all the physical and mental work he’s put in to heal his Olympic heartbreak and learn to enjoy badminton again.
The 24-year-old had captured the wider national attention last year at the Paris Olympics like never before. He had already won a bunch of BWF titles and big medals, but what brought him to the limelight for most Indian sports fans was his sensational performance at the Olympics, and that agonising fourth place finish. The two tough losses in Paris were followed by some rough public words from childhood mentor Prakash Padukone, asking him to work harder and take responsibility. It was a difficult time for him, which followed him long after the Olympics and the 2024 season ended.
His spate of bad results naturally meant there were many questions raised, some even by his own mind. He had already battled a confidence crisis earlier in 2024 to qualify for the Games, but his Olympic near miss put him on the brink of another mental block, and that was only compounded by early exits. Badminton was no longer fun for someone who had trained at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy since he was 10.
“Post-Paris, there was a time where I was not doing so well, and there were many first round exits as well. There are a lot of the things I was dealing with mentally and I had to let all those thoughts go and just enjoy badminton again,” he told reporters after his Australian Open win. “Also, I was injured in between and that was keeping me away from the sport. So the main aim was to just get back into good shape and just enjoy playing badminton again.”
To not enjoy the sport you’ve made the focus of your entire life can be as lethal as body blow for any athlete. Which would explain why Lakshya felt lost even as he got back to training after coming so close to an Olympic medal.
“It was a bit hard for me to find motivation again to train hard and play a few tournaments. I also took a break for some time after last year and the results were also not great. I was still competing in a few tournaments, but if I look back now, I was not really 100% there.”
He needed a jolt, some change and it came in the form of Israeli mental trainer Mon Brokman, who runs Behavioural Foresight and had previously worked with HS Prannoy and IPL team Rajasthan Royals. Lakshya began working with him around April-May this year, and this helped him enjoy his game once again. “When I started working this year with [Mon], the main aim was to just go out there and enjoy playing badminton again and not think too much about the results and just focus on enjoying badminton again.”
One of the big lessons for him was about taking it one-match-at-a-time and not thinking too hard about the future. This free-thinking philosophy can be hard because Lakshya had several losses in a row and was struggling with physical niggles for about three months which needed new training methods and load management bang in the middle of the season. The youngster needed to undergo a massive mentality shift, but he successfully managed it, as evidenced not just by this title but also how he described his changed outlook in 2025.
Usually, a man of few and direct words, Lakshya was more unreserved when asked how he has grown as a person, putting both his ambiguous results and the Australian Open title in perspective: “In the last one year, I’ve been focusing on the small things and not thinking too much about the results or past competitions. When I started working with the mental trainer again, I think it was important that I find that motivation again. Somewhere at the start of this year I could again really focus and get back into full training, but I was not 100% fit to compete in tournaments,” he said.
“I was not thinking too much about what will happen in the future, the next six months or in the next tournament, just take it as it comes…. it’s been months after Paris; I am in really good shape and a good place to win a lot of things now. But again, I didn’t do that. I started feeling the pressure of the last few losses. So, at some point, I had to like really to sit back and think, ‘okay, if it takes me another 10 tournaments, another 20 tournaments, I’m ready to do that. I’m not going to hurry so much into like fighting it all out.'”
This letting go of the timelines in his head is what finally made the difference for Lakshya.
Blocking out the noise!��
(Photo: @badmintonphoto ) pic.twitter.com/84ki4uWwt5
– BAI Media (@BAI_Media) November 23, 2025
He was already making technical changes to his game, adding more variety to his shots on court with his South Korean coach Yoo Yong-Sung. He was physically back in a good space with a change in training style and a stint at the Red Bull Athlete Performance Centre in Austria. The mental aspect was the final piece to click into place,
“I took a step back from that and started enjoying the training, the process again. I could feel a lot better on court and once I was like fully fit, especially before the World Championships, I got a few good training blocks and was happy to compete and try to win tournaments again.”
“In short if I have to say – not hurrying to win another tournament or play just the semifinal of just the next one, but to enjoy the process, be out there to play and enjoy the sport and do the processes right.” Lakshya summed up in one of his most expressive responses.
The fruits of this renewed approach could be seen in his game, and he doubled down with his post-win celebration – fingers in his ears to mime blocking out the noise.
“There were a lot of things throughout the year, especially when I was not doing well, there were a lot of doubts that were there in my mind. A lot of people had different opinions about training and tournaments. I respect those as well, but for me it was important to just lock everything and believe in myself.”
“I had to tell myself that, ‘it’s going to be, okay, just trust yourself that you are doing the right thing. And even though the results are not coming, but you are in the right track, eventually it will happen.'”
Happen it did, in his final tournament of the year after a marathon semifinal against an opponent he had beaten at the Olympics and a final he dominated with his new, more versatile game. If Lakshya can carry this newfound belief into his training block and then the new season, he can unlock a whole new level of his game.
His talent has never been in doubt, and now his temperament is catching up as well. If things fall in place, 2026, with the Asian Games, could be Lakshya’s best season yet.
