'This boy will conquer the world'

Years before he reached the All England Open Badminton Championships final on Sunday, March 20, badminton legend Prakash Padukone had predicted Lakshya Sen's rise .

Viren Rasquinha -- the former India hockey captain and CEO, Olympic Gold Quest -- recalled how Padukone had told him 10 years ago that Lakshya would 'conquer the world'.

'A decade back when we started supporting a tiny @lakshya_sen and shifted him to PPBA Bangalore, Prakash Padukone sir told me that one day this boy will conquer the world,' Viren tweeted.

'I laughed. But he obviously wasn't joking,' Rasquinha tweeted, sharing two throwback photos of the 20 year old.

Lakshya was bidding to become only the third man after Prakash Padukone (1980) and Pullela Gopichand (2001) to win the All England title, but was defeated in the final by World number one Viktor Axelsen.

Lakshya secured his maiden world championships bronze in December before winning his first Super 500 title at the India Open in January and finishing runner-up at the German Open last week.

Prakash was 24 when he won the All England Championship in 1980; Gopi was 27 when he did likewise in 2001. Lakshya will be 21 in August and India has great expectations from the Ace of Almora.