Paris: Lakshya Sen conceded a host of unforced errors to surrender in front of Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia in a three-game thriller in the badminton men’s singles bronze-medal match at the Paris Olympics 2024 on Monday. After losing to Viktor Axelsen in the semifinals on Sunday, Lakshya was tipped to win the bronze considering his better win-loss record against Lee Zii Ji. Expectedly, the 22-year-old Indian started positively with a 21-13 win against the Malaysian in the first game.
However, Lakshya lost the plot thereafter to eventually give away tie to Lee Zii Jia. Lakshya lost the second and third games 16-21 and 11-21 respectively to gift India another fourth-place finish at the ongoing Paris Olympics 2024. Thus, the Indian challenge in badminton ends in Paris with the likes of PV Sindhu, HS Prannoy and the men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty already exiting the tournament earlier.
In fact, Lakshya’s fourth-place finish this time is the best by an Indian male shuttler in the history of the Olympics. His loss means that it would be the first time in 12 years that India will return without a badminton medal from the Olympics. “I had my chances in the second set and could have definitely done better. But credit to him, he played a really good game. I think at the moment I’m just not able to think right now,” a crestfallen Sen said after the match.
“I came well prepared for this match as well. It has been quite a tough week overall. But yeah, the fatigue kept on building. But I mean, I was ready to give my 100 per cent in this match.”
