The 20-year-old from Almora defeated Loh to win the India Open this January. A few months later he got here up with a sensational present on the All England Championships, the place he grew to become the primary Indian to achieve the ultimate in twenty years. He even dethroned reigning champion Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia.
Lakshya , who trains on the Prakash Padukone Academy in Bengaluru, excelled on the junior stage earlier than making fast strides within the senior class.
Final December, he shocked many by changing into the youngest Indian man to win a medal on the World Championships, the place he misplaced to Srikanth within the semifinals.
The CWG discipline in males’s singles is weak and it will be a significant upset if Lakshya, Srikanth or Loh don’t win in Birmingham. The withdrawal of Lee Zii Jia and Loh’s lack of kind have elevated the probabilities of Indian males.
Prakash Padukone (1978), Syed Modi (1982) and Parupalli Kashyap (2014) have received singles gold for India at CWG thus far. Srikanth misplaced within the closing within the final version.
Whereas Srikanth has been coaching in Hyderabad, Lakshya has labored exhausting together with his crew led by Vimal Kumar in Bengaluru. Each the shuttlers suffered minor accidents and skipped a number of tournaments within the run-up to the Video games.
Since dropping to HS Prannoy within the Indonesia Open on June 15, Lakshya has targeted on coaching.
“I’ve been coaching constantly for the final three weeks. That is my first Commonwealth Video games and I’m desirous to do effectively,” Lakshya advised TOI.
Enviornment Birmingham additionally hosts the All England Championships and is a well-recognized venue.
“I be ok with returning there. I just like the environment on the venue,” he mentioned.
India’s historical past on the Commonwealth Video games
The primary activity for Lakshya and Srikanth is to assist their crew retain the combined crew gold by successful the singles tie. It isn’t but clear who the crew administration will discipline in crew singles. However teammates will flip foes in particular person competitors.
“I’ve ready effectively and I wish to do effectively. I wish to take it match by match,” he mentioned. “The draw is essential. As soon as it’s out, we are able to plan the technique. However I’m not pondering too far forward now,” Lakshya mentioned.
If Srikanth and Lakshya are drawn in reverse halves of the draw, India stands an opportunity of two medals in singles. And if one in every of them manages to beat Loh, India can pocket the singles gold after a spot of eight years.