India's star shuttler Lakshya Sen experienced a heartbreaking 20-22, 14-21 straight-set loss to two-time World Champion Viktor Axelsen in the men's badminton semifinal at the Paris Olympics 2024 on Sunday (August 4).
Regardless of the outcome, Lakshya Sen is assured of a medal match at Paris 2024. He will now compete in the bronze medal match against the other losing semifinalist, Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia, tomorrow at 6:00 PM IST (Indian time).
The Indian shuttler lost the first game 20-22 to defending champion Viktor. He wasted three game points, allowing Axelsen to win five consecutive points.
In the second game, Viktor Axelsen, initially trailed 0-7. From here onwards, the Danish superstar demonstrated why he is the defending champion as he leveled the proceedings 10-10 and ultimately won the second set 14-21 to secure a straight-set victory. Axelsen will now advance to the gold medal match.
India's PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal are the only Indian badminton players to have won medals at the Olympics so far. If Lakshya Sen wins the bronze medal tomorrow, he will become the first Indian men's badminton player to stand on an Olympic podium.
In their eight previous encounters before today's Olympic 2024 semis, Denmark's Viktor Axelsen defeated Lakshya seven times, with the Indian ace shuttler securing only one win. Lakshya's lone victory over Axelsen came at the 2022 German Open, where he won the third game 22-20.
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Earlier in the Games 2024, Lakshya Sen defeated Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei with scores of 19-21, 21-15, 21-12 in the quarterfinals. By this win, for the first time an Indian badminton player made it to the semifinals in men's singles at the Olympic Games.