Paris: India’s dream of a first-ever Olympic gold in badminton will remain unfulfilled after Lakshya Sen suffered a straight-game defeat to reigning champion Viktor Axelsen in the men’s singles semifinals at the Paris Games here on Sunday, August 4.
The 22-year-old from Almora, a world championship bronze medalist, squandered a three-point advantage in the first game and a 7-0 lead in the second to surrender 20-22, 14-21, to the two-time world champion Axelsen in a 54-minute semifinal clash.
Sen will get another chance to become the first Indian male shuttler to win an Olympic medal when he meets Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia in the bronze medal playoff.
India have never won an Olympic gold medal in badminton, with PV Sindhu claiming a silver and bronze at the Rio and Tokyo editions and Saina Nehwal securing a bronze in the London Games.
It was Sen’s eighth loss to the Danish star, with the Indian beating him only once at the 2022 German Open final.
“If I had closed the first game, then I would have had a better chance of closing the match. In the second game also, I started well but couldn’t keep the lead,” Sen told the broadcaster after the contest.
About losing the first game after being 20-17 ahead, Sen said, “As the game went on, he started attacking more, and I became passive, only defending. I should have taken chances and attacked more.”
Axelsen thus made it to his second successive final at the Olympics and is now one step away from joining Chinese legend Lin Dan as a two-time gold medalist.
Of all his previous losses, this will hurt Sen the most, as he had the chance to deal the first blow on his fancied opponent, but instead, he wilted under pressure against the towering Dane, who always found a way to wriggle out of tricky situations.
Axelsen’s delaying tactics while serving also unsettled Sen a bit.
Sen struggled with the length, spraying wide and long to concede a 2-5 lead early on. He drew parity with a cross-court shot and then tried to construct the rallies. His trademark cross-court smashes deep into his opponent’s forehand helped him lead 8-7 at one stage.
The Indian kept the pressure on Axelsen, and another fine cross-court and an on-the-line return gave him a two-point advantage.
Sen’s patient play worked as Axelsen made a series of unforced errors to concede a 9-15 lead.
Axelsen won two good rallies, including one involving 43 shots. Soon, Sen moved to 17-11, but Axelsen then started dominating proceedings and rained down a monstrous forehand to narrow the lead down to 16-18.
Sen left his opponent wrong-footed with an away shot and then produced another incredible cross-court to gather three game points.
But the youngster imploded next, as he lost all three of them after serving into the net and going long twice. Sen sent a return to serve out and netted again to hand over the opening game to his rival.
Sen recovered quickly from the opening game reversal to zoom to a 7-0 lead after the change of sides, but he flattered to deceive as Axelsen scripted a stunning fightback.
The Indian looked too defensive and committed a series of unforced errors as the Dane made it 7-8 after nailing down another forehand smash.
At 10-7, Sen lost his racquet while defending a smash from Axelsen, who was back on level terms with another thundering smash. The Indian, however, managed a one-point advantage at the break, when the Dane erred.
Sen tried to up his game, but Axelsen was alert and looked in good flow as he moved to 15-12 with his opponent missing the lines too often.
Axelsen looked in complete control as he rained down those forehand smashes at will to move to 19-14. A flat exchange ended at the net from Sen, and it was six match points for the Dane, who sealed it when the Indian went wide again.
Summing up the match, Sen said, “I would take my learnings and positives from this game and give my 100 percent in the bronze medal match.
“My parents and brother (Chirag Sen) are there to support me. My mother is cooking lunch and dinner and sending it to me. I have gotten a lot of support from the crowd and hope they will come tomorrow for the bronze medal match as well.”
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