Odysseus could see Ithaca on the horizon before the winds sent him back out to sea. Lakshya Sen has had a similar year: an Olympic bronze and an All England title, both within reach, both blown off course by the same thing.
Homer’s Odyssey has the hero sent off with stormy winds packed into an ox-skin bag, which his greedy crew let loose thinking there was gold inside, causing a storm. For Lakshya, the invisible, uncontrollable winds have injected one lesson into his marrow: court conditions can kill the flicker in any match if he doesn’t control the shuttle’s whims.
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It happened at the India Open in Delhi too, when he lost to Lin Chun Yi.
So, ahead of the World Championships, Sen has camped at the National Centre in Guwahati to get acclimatised to big halls like the Indira Gandhi stadium. For a week till August 12, he’ll try to work through wavy winds, with A/C blowers operating from front, rear and side. “We will change blower directions mid-rally even, and plan for everything,” says father DK Sen.
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From the Olympics, it’s not highlights he’ll want to revisit. 8-3 up to 8-12 down. When he refused to still his jangling nerves, slow down, take a break or reset. When he became the confused storm himself, rushing through a phase he couldn’t control. When Lee Zii Jia manipulated the winds at Paris, sending over lifts and clears he knew wouldn’t fly out. From the slower end, instead of high clears, Sen tried to overhit against the wind. Attacking, without smashing. Winds can weigh heavy in many ways. And they don’t show up in video analysis. Hence, Guwahati.
Shuttle control in drifty conditions goes beyond being discerning on the lines. These are vernier-calliper adjustments to find the right length, that come with standing in the eye of the storm, reading trajectories and speeds, a hand-eye and ear coordination that demands alertness on every shot. And then some more, to judge how the opponent’s returns land.
It’s not that Sen has never learnt to read drifts. You don’t reach two All England finals, an Olympic semi-final and a Thomas Cup win without battling winds. But the simulation needs the mind and limbs to get accustomed to playing, or holding back from, certain strokes. He was physically exhausted playing Lin Chun Yi at Birmingham, and the Taiwanese had a pace Sen’s defence couldn’t quite match. But it was also the drift he couldn’t harness that day, while Lin marched to the title.
Massive arenas are mini typhoons, and conditions change with the crowd size, from court to court, morning to evening, mid-rally even. The net dips on serves are tougher still to tame. Talking about it isn’t something shuttlers think of as cool. It has the whiff of an excuse. But preparing for it is a must.
His preparation this time has centred on speed. Dealing with drifts also means knowing when to decelerate, slow down and find sluggish pauses in the storm so he’s not blown off by the opponent’s accelerations.
What Sen has never shied away from is tough opponents. His appetite for a scrap is unlimited. Despite an attack differential where the big smash is missing (he makes up for it with a catapult elbow smash), Sen fears nobody. It’s how he got past Shi Yuqi and Li Shifeng at All England. He thrives on the big stage: Worlds, Olympics, ruckusing crowds.
So the draws over the midweek were hardly a flutter. He has avoided matchups with the ambushing speedsters, and Kunlavut Vitidsarn and Alex Lanier are in his path, testing the patience he dislikes wearing thin with endless retrieving. Kunlavut brings deception at the net; Lanier plays orthodox-weird from the back court, another irritant.
Father Dhirendra Kumar explains that fans and players look at draws very differently. He uses the word jhujhna: contending with a hard situation, and calls it a player’s job description. “Kaunsa bhi draw aaega khelna hai. Even if it’s a top player, you have to deliver. Draw leke baith gaye toh ho gaya kaam, jhujhna hoga,” he says, dismissing any dread over Lakshya’s 15th seeding. You have to deliver irrespective of the draw, so why fret. Just prepare.
“This time we have the responsibility to do well, to respect the fans who turn up to watch in Delhi,” he adds.
Jhujhna mode is switched on. At big events, he’s a moth to flame. The only vents permitted are on the air-cons.
