Lakshya Sen created history on Friday (August 2) by becoming the first Indian male shuttler to reach the semi-finals of badminton at the Olympics. The 22-year-old from Almora made a stunning comeback to beat Chou Tien Chen of Taiwan 19-21, 21-15, and 21-12 in the quarterfinals.
Sen’s spectacular show at the ongoing Paris Olympics 2024 caught India’s T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav’s attention, who has now shared a special message for the star badminton player.
Surya took to Instagram stories to praise Sen’s show and wrote, “Historic win! What a match! Let’s go Lakshya Sen.”
https://www.instagram.com/stories/surya_14kumar/?hl=en
Sen once again went into the match as an underdog, having lost four times in the last five meetings against the Taiwanese.
There was very little to differentiate between the two as they engaged in a physical battle.
Long rallies were the order of the day as both players moved well on the court, returning almost everything they were throwing at each other.
The Indian lost initial points on his return from the forecourt and began making more cross-court shots. Every time he trailed, Sen found a way to level the score, which moved from 2-5 to 5-5 and then 15-15.
Sen took a three-point lead in the neck-and-neck battle when Chou sent a backhand long, netted a return and in between the Indian found a winner on the left of his rival.
The Taiwanese then mounted a comeback, logging three ferocious returns to make it 18-all. A backhand error from Sen gave Chou a mini-lead which he consolidated with a winner on the left of Sen.
Sen saved a game point but Chou did not let slip the next chance, firing an overhead smash to clinch the opening game.
The story was no different in the second game, which again was a see-saw affair. Both players kept outsmarting each other to keep snapping at each other’s heels.
At 7-7, there was a small interruption when Sen called for a review after a close line call. Chou’s return had landed in but Sen thought otherwise. The replay was not shown on the screen and the umpire just informed Sen that he had lost the review.
It prompted Sen to get into a conversation with the umpire but the Indian kept his cool and from 13-all he pulled away with five points in a row. An error at the forecourt by the Taiwanese gave Sen several game points. He converted the second when his rival netted a return.
Unlike the first two games, the decider unfolded in Sen’s favour with Chou making uncharacteristic unforced errors. His returns lost sting and he kept spraying the shuttle out even as Sen played at a high pace with his returns, smashes and the drop shots finding their mark.
Sen quickly build up a healthy 16-11 lead, which Chou failed to bridge. A superb cross court smash gave Sen eight match point chances and he sealed it when Chou hit the net after a flat exchange.
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