Indian badminton star Lakshya Sen missed out on winning his maiden Olympic medal as he lost to Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia in the bronze medal match of the men's singles at the Paris Olympics 2024 on Monday, August 5.
Lakshya Sen had to fight for the bronze medal after losing to the Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen in the semifinal clash. In the third-place play-off, Sen won the opening game against Lee Zii Jia to take 1-0 lead. He displayed his lethal smashes and quick on-court movement throughout the first match of the bronze medal match.
However, Sen seemed to have lost his rhythm as he lost the next two sets, where the Malaysian badminton star capitalized on the Indian opponent's unforced errors and his smashing prowess to secure the bronze medal with a scoreline of 1-2.
In the second game, Lakshya Sen injured his right elbow after the fall on the court and his medical team immediately put the bandage on the injured area. The setback might have affected his performance and couldn't regain his earlier momentum.
Despite missing out on winning the bronze medal, Lakshya Sen received applause and praise from the netizens for his brilliant campaign in the Paris Olympics 2024. The fans hailed Lakshya as the future of Indian badminton as the youngster managed to finish in top 4 in his maiden appearance at the Summer Games.
Here's how netizens reacted to Lakshya Sen's campaign
Lakshya Sen kicked off his maiden Olympic appearance with a win over Kevin Cordon of Guatemela in the first round of the group stage. However, Lakshya Sen's win against Cordon was deleted as the Guatemelan shuttler withdrew from the Games due to elbow.
Despite the tough blow, the 22-year-old won the next two games against Julien Carragi and Jonathan Christie to qualify for the pre-quarters, where he defeated his Indian compatriot HS Prannoy. In the quarterfinals, sen defeated Chou Tien-chen of Chinese Taipei in three sets and qualified for the semifinal.
The Almora-born shuttler remained the only medal hope for India after PV Sindhu, the doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty and HS Prannoy were knocked out of the Games.
'Couldโve definitely done better': Lakshya Sen
Following his defeat in the bronze medal match, Lakshya Sen admitted that he was not up to the best despite preparing well for the crucial match against Lee Zii Jia. He added that his elbow injury resulted in losing his momentum after winning the opening game.
"I had my chances in the second set. I couldโve definitely done better. Credit to him, he played better. I think I came well prepared for this game. It has been quite a tough week overall. I was ready to give my 100 percent.โ Sen told Jio Cinema
"In between the points, the blood was on the floor. Sometimes, it takes away the momentum. Just having that break in the game.โ he added.
Following the end of his campaign at the Paris Olympics 2024, Lakshya Sen is likely to return to action for the Japan Open 2024, starting on August 20.