Paris 2024: Lakshya Sen becomes first Indian man to reach badminton Olympic semifinals

Lakshya Sen beat 12th-seeded, Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien Chen 19-21, 21-15, 21-12 to advance to the semifinals of the Men’s singles badminton at the La Chapelle Arena in Paris Olympics on Friday. This is the first time an Indian male shuttler has reached the semifinals at the Olympics. He will play either Viktor Axelsen or Kean Yew Loh in his semifinal on Sunday.

It wasn’t a bright start for Lakshya, who entered the mid-game interval trailing 9-11. The duo engaged in extraordinary rallies, marked by fast-paced net exchanges, with Chou maintaining a tight grip to secure a closely-fought first game.

HIGHLIGHTS |AS IT HAPPENED

In the second game, Chou capitalised on any weak returns from the Indian player. His court coverage and aggressive play were formidable, but Lakshya matched him shot for shot. A disruption occurred when Lakshya challenged a call at 6-6. Despite the umpire’s claim of seeing the challenge result, the Hawkeye graphic didn’t appear on the screen, leading to an argument as Lakshya hadn’t seen the result himself. It only seemed to spur Lakshya as he entered the mid-game break with a narrow 11-10 lead.

The intensity of the match began to wear on Chou, who made a few unforced errors, allowing Lakshya to gain six game points. Lakshya ultimately took the second game 21-15, pushing the match into a deciding game.

There was no stopping Lakshya now as he entered the mid-game interval with a four-point lead 11-7 and quickly made it 17-12. It was just a matter of time before he took the decider 21-12.

Lakshya had advanced to the quarterfinals after beating teammate H.S. Prannoy 21-12, 21-6 in an all-Indian round of 16 tie. 

He became only the third Indian to enter the quarterfinals of the men’s singles after Parupalli Kashyap (London 2012) and Kidambi Srikanth (Rio 2016).

Lakshya is India’s sole remaining challenge in badminton at the Paris 2024 Olympics.