Paris Olympics: Lakshya Sen to compete for bronze after losing to Viktor Axelsen in the semi-finals
Paris [France], August 5 Shuttler Lakshya Sen is poised to vie for the bronze medal as he faces world No. 7 Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia on Monday.
Sen was defeated by defending Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark in the men's singles semi-final at the Paris 2024 badminton tournament on Sunday.
Ranked 22nd, Sen lost to world No. 2 Axelsen with scores of 22-20, 21-14 in 54 minutes at the La Chapelle Arena.
Sen controlled the first game initially but faltered later. He started the second game with a significant 7-0 lead, but Axelsen surged back to win the game and secure a spot in his second consecutive Olympic final.
The 22-year-old Sen still has the opportunity to become the first Indian badminton player to win an Olympic medal in the men's event. Sen holds a 4-1 head-to-head record against the Malaysian, including a victory at the All-England Open earlier this year, according to Olympic.com.
The semi-final began with Sen committing three errors, giving Axelsen a 3-0 lead. However, a series of strong defensive and offensive plays allowed Sen to level the score at 5-5.
Sen gained the lead for the first time with a brilliant cross-court smash to make it 7-6 and went into the break with an 11-9 lead. He then extended his lead to 15-9 and took advantage of Axelsen's errors to reach 17-11.
Axelsen, a two-time Olympic medallist, then won four consecutive points and saved three game points to equalize at 20-20 before clinching the first game 22-20. Sen’s service error at 20-17 shifted the momentum in favor of the Dane.
Sen quickly recovered and built a substantial 7-0 lead in the second game. Yet, Axelsen’s experience came through as he won six of the next seven points and leveled the score at 10-10.
Sen led 11-10 at the break, but Axelsen took the lead for the first time in the second game at 13-12. The Dane then won nine of the next 12 points to secure the second game and advance to the gold medal match against world No. 8 Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand.
This was the eighth victory for the reigning Olympic champion over Sen, who has only one win against the Dane. Sen’s sole victory over Axelsen came at the German Open more than two years ago.
In the quarter-finals, unseeded Lakshya Sen defeated Chou Tien-Chen of Chinese Taipei in a tough three-game match.
As a result, Sen became the first Indian shuttler to reach the men's singles semi-finals at the Summer Games. Previously, Parupalli Kashyap and Kidambi Srikanth had reached the quarter-finals at London 2012 and Rio 2016, respectively, according to Olympic.com.
Making his Olympic debut, Sen topped his men’s singles group by defeating reigning All England champion and world No. 4 Jonatan Christie. He also overcame his fellow Indian HS Prannoy in the round of 16.