Rising Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen strengthened his stature by clinching a bronze medal in his maiden appearance at the World Championships 2021 in Spain, earlier this year. He went down fighting to India's No.1 male shuttler Kidambi Srikanth 17-21, 21-14, 21-17 in a thrilling three-game semi-final.
However, his solid performance, has charted a path to conquer his future dreams. His childhood coach Vimal Kumar believes that Sen will be keen to make the most of the crucial year in 2022 -- which includes the Commonwealth Games (CWG) and Asian Games -- to further go on and book a direct berth for the Olympics in 2024 via rankings.
"He (Lakshya Sen) should be aiming for Paris 2024. He has that mission and it every athlete should be aspiring for that. He understands what needs to be done and it is a process," Kumar told sportzpoint.com.
"There is no need to postpone anything. The Olympic Games come every four years and it is not easy but there is no escape from such things. Prior to that there are many tournaments happening," he added.
The Olympian, who took Sen under his wings at nearly the age of 10, at the Prakash Padukone Academy also highlighted that the Almora-youngster will follow a training regime which suits his body with endurance a key aspect to work on.
"He has a very regimented program. It is not everyday that you train physically hard for six to eight hours. It varies. You need to know your body and right things," the Olympian said.
"Taking care of the physical conditioning is very important. He needs to work on his strength and endurance and he knows that," he added.
Furthermore, the appointment of two-time Olympic medallist (team event) Yoo Yung-sung, is bound to open up new dimensions in Sen's approach, believes the former national coach.
The South Korean was the first foreign coach of the Chinese national team and has the experience of training youngsters from his country under his belt.
"There will be different set of training routine. Everybody should know about what his body needs and it can take. It is important to be assessed. He has worked with the best of Chinese and South Korean players. We are hoping that he would be able to bring in new ideas," Kumar said.
And with a plan in place, Sen will look to further establish himself, as a key shuttler from the Indian contingent.