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Indian Badminton sensation Lakshya Sen suffered a crushing 22-20, 21-14 loss against defending Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark in the Paris Olympics 2024. Before this clash, Sen registered a monumental win over Chinese Taipei's Chou Tien Chen 19-21, 21-15, 21-12 in the quarterfinal and took down fellow Indian HS Pranoy in the Round of 16 clash with a 21-18, 21-19 victory.
In India's first semi-final of the men's singles event, Sen had a streaky start as he made three quick errors and went down 0-3 before clawing back into the contest. Both competitors were neck and neck as the scores were tied at 5-5.
However, Sen was up 11-9 at the mid-game break as the Dane had a few errors. After this interval, the 22-year-old from India surprisingly jumped to a six-point lead by winning seven consecutive points to be 15-9 up. The defending Olympic champion rocked back in the contest and cut Sen's lead down to 18-15.
Building on this surge, Axelsen broke down the Indian one-serve at a time as he took the score from 19-17 to 20-22 as Lakshya Sen squandered away three match points. Coming out all guns blazing in Game 2, Sen jumped to a 7-0 lead as he showcased composure and resistance before the Dane launched a massive comeback.
The Tokyo Olympic Gold medalist went from 0-7 down to level the score at 10-10 before the Indian maintained an 11-10 lead at the interval. After the break, both competitors traded points before the Dane took his first lead of the game and surged ahead 17-13. Viktor Axelsen then took the next four points in quick succession to win the contest and reach the gold medal match.
After his quarterfinal win against Chou Tien Chen, Sen expressed elation about being the first Indian male to reach the semi-final of the men's singles badminton event at the Olympics. As per Sportstar, Sen said, "It feels good to become the first Indian [male] to reach the Olympic semifinals."
"I’m happy. But I am also very tired. I need to rest before my next match. I’m going to rest for a bit and then I’m going to start preparing for my next match," he continued.
