Lakshya has back-to-back tournaments lined up this month, which also included the prestigious All England leagues.
Lakshya will play three trotting events in March – German Open (March 7-12), All England (March 14-19) and Swiss Open (March 21-26).
“After BATC, in pre-season training, Heath Matthews was in Bangalore for two weeks. He made sure my recovery was better. It was a 10-day training and I could push hard and he made sure I had no worries,” Sen, who was part of India’s bronze medal-winning team at the Asian Mixed Team Badminton Championship (BATC), told PTI.
“I played six hours a day and gave two to three hours to recover, so that I don’t have any small problems before such a big event, to be at my best and make sure that my body is recovering and staying in good condition. It will travel with me to the All England Championship and Swiss Open for me to be physically fit. So overall the preparation has been good and I’m getting closer to my level.”
Lakshya had retained Matthews ahead of the Commonwealth Games last year as he returned from a shoulder injury.
“Last time we had him for a month-long camp before the Commonwealth Games. I was coming off an injury and he helped me recover after every game,” Lakshya said.
Lakshya, a bronze medalist at the 2021 World Championships, had an outstanding run on the European Tour in 2022 reaching the finals of the German Open and the English Championship.
However, the 21-year-old from Almora had a lackluster start to the season as he made early exits from Malaysia and the Indian Open, and reached the quarter-finals at the Indonesia Masters Super 500.
“I’m pretty confident about my fitness level, but I need to train a bit to get back into the rhythm. I played in Dubai, and before that there were a few events. All I’m looking for, it’s a good start in Germany, to be 100 per cent ready for all of England,” he said.
Lakshya will start his campaign against Frenchman Christo Popov at the German Open from Tuesday.
“I could face Lee Zii Jia in the quarter-finals, so I’m looking forward to it. I’ve done everything in my power to approach this week in the best shape, so I hope to have a good momentum. in front of all England.”
While Lakshya skipped last month’s senior national championships, two PPBA academy commuters – Mithun Manjunath and Anupama Upadhyay won the men’s and women’s singles titles respectively.
“It was special because both titles came at the academy. I have known Mithun for a long time. We train together and even here in Germany we traveled together. Anupama is someone I saw as young girl when she started in Almora, my home town.”
(With PTI entries)
