Lakshya Sen's transition from the junior to the senior badminton circuit has been a smashing success. In his debut season on the senior circuit, the Almora-based teenager has won an impressive four international titles this year, the latest being the Scottish Open which came after the SaarLorLux Open last month. In October, he clinched the Dutch Open while his triumph at the Belgian International was witnessed in September.

Lakshya, 18, is elated to have achieved the target set by coach Vimal Kumar (from the Prakash Padukone Academy in Bangalore) of finishing in the world's Top-50 before year-end. Having progressed from his World No. 109 ranking last December to his current No. 40 ranking, Lakshya is now aiming to break into the Top-30 so that he can begin playing the Super Series events. "At the start of the year, my aim was the Top-50 and I've achieved it—in fact even better.