Lakshya Sen set to become youngest Indian to qualify for World Tour finals

India’s Lakshya Sen became the youngest Indian player to qualify for the season-ending BWF World Tour finals which will be conducted in Bali from December 1^st, 2021. The 20-year lad from Almora has been in good form on the BWF World Tour and is currently ranked fifth in the World Tour rankings.

He will join Kidambi Srikanth (ranked 3rd) in the men’s singles competition, two-time Olympic medallist P V Sindhu (4th) in women’s singles, and women’s doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy (6th) at the event, which was shifted from Guangzhou to Bali due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

So many Indian players have played BWF tours in the past but Sindhu is the only player to have played the final of BWF and win it in 2018. Srikanth and Sindhu have reached the knockout stage but couldn’t enter the finals.

Talking about Lakshya Sen who claimed five titles in 2019 before COVID-19 suspended the International tournaments. He has been on a roll with a final finish at Dubai Open and semifinal results at Denmark Masters and Hylo Open. In the Indonesia leg, Lakshya couldn’t progress deep in the draw after losing twice to top seed Kento Momota of Japan.

However, the official list of players qualifying for the World Tour final will be announced after the conclusion of the ongoing Indonesia Open 500 super event. The top eight players in the Road to Bali rankings will be invited to compete in the BWF tour final where a maximum of two players or pairs per member Association is eligible to participate in BWF tour finals.

Indian tennis federation needs to develop more young players especially in the women’s category as Sindhu and Saina are our top players but the future budding players need to grow and give equal chances to talented players who can represent India in the future.