Somewhere between his weekend hustles, All England 2022 runner-up Lakshya Sen's life may have taken a quiet, irrevocable turn.
Around the time he was snuffing defending champion Lee Zii Jia's hopes for a second consecutive All England final and marching into Indian sporting legend, a leading talent management firm added him to their elite athlete roster. He'll soon own a commercial portfolio and a bouquet of endorsement deals to honor - a visible marker of an athlete's progression to sell-able face, brand and identity.
Lakshya will return to Bengaluru on Tuesday, knowing that he's not quite the same guy who flew out two weeks ago. After his All England final, he slept little and moped much; a second straight Sunday night he spent glum. The first being the aftermath of the German Open Super 300. His father and childhood coach DK Sen, who travels with him on the Tour, had then consoled him with the allure of Birmingham. 'Yeh to sirf class test tha pagle, asli exam toh woh hai' (This was only a class assignment, the real exam is the All England)
"Greatness in our sport is measured through the All England," Sen says, "We've grown up hearing about Prakash Padukone's win and later Gopichand. It's every player's dream. Lakshya really tried his best. He's obviously a little disappointed at the result. But he's still very young."
Lakshya's Korean coach Yoo Yong-sung points out that there are no shortcuts to gaining big tournament experience. His young pupil will simply have to play more of them. "Lakshya is only 20 years old. He was under pressure in the final and needs to play enough of these major events. I think he's learnt a lot from a week and soon his day will come. For that, I will do my best."
Baseline Ventures, who also manage a bunch of other top Indian names including PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth, have been in talks with Lakshya's team for a while. It was only last weekend that things reached a formal agreement. Part of the reason, co-founder Vishal Jaison believes, may have had to do with Lakshya's team wanting to wait for the right time.
"Unlike cricket, badminton is very personality-driven with regard to commercial interests. The good thing with Lakshya is that he comes with no baggage. He's no cocky, brash kid who people have to put up with just because he's super talented. The boy is polite to a fault, focused and getting results. We see him as a consistent player at major events in the years to come. Like Sindhu has been."
The more obvious and valid concern for brands and players they invest in, is visibility. Hunting for live-streams of Tour matches throughout the year has turned into an Olympic exercise. Most Indian enthusiasts of the sport spent the greater part of Sunday researching where they could watch a player from the country in a historic final. "That's especially the case with jersey sponsors. They need the assurance that these players will be seen and so will their brands. So with badminton, sometimes that can be a challenge. For Lakshya we're currently in talks with around eight brands."
Not just endorsements, being managed professionally also would extend to the athlete's social media footprint and the public posts being overseen and curated. "We don't entirely take over their handles but obviously we guide our athletes on their commercial posts and the public image they project. Staying out of controversies, particularly political, is one that we usually advise," says Jaison.
�� Photo Credit: @badmintonphoto pic.twitter.com/DmapBVZiOQ
- Lakshya Sen (@lakshya_sen) March 21, 2022
Right through the All England week, senior Indian men's singles player, HS Prannoy, and Lakshya were roommates, bonding over the newest, snazzy cars and the latest releases on OTT platforms.
"Lakshya is the kind of guy who will be the first to walk over to you and chat right after a fierce face-off. He did that last week as well after our German Open match as well. It just melts all the on-court competition in an instant. He's watched almost every new release on OTT, particularly the comedies. He also follows a few vloggers and YouTube content creators religiously," he says.
"I think he's in the kind of space now where his game is solid enough to fetch him the results without having to do extraordinary things. Just doing the simple stuff well enough, not worrying about what the opponent might do but rather focusing on himself."
A fellow automobile freak, Prannoy divulges that Lakshya has his eyes set on some new wheels. His family currently drives a modest, slightly old Chevrolet UVA hatchback in Bengaluru. "We joked that his academy mates might pelt his car with stones if he goes back there in it after making an All England final."