Olympics24 : Lakshya Sen gives India medal hopes with semis berth in badminton

 India is on the brink of another medal at the Paris Olympics. On Friday, Lakshya Sen advanced to the badminton semifinals. He defeated Chou Tien-chen of Chinese Taipei in the quarterfinals with scores of 19-21, 21-15, 21-12. A win in the semifinals would guarantee a silver medal for Lakshya, and even if he loses, he will compete for the bronze. He has become the first Indian player to reach the semifinals in badminton at the Olympics.

The match was fiercely competitive from the start. Initially, Chou took the lead. Trailing 2-4, Lakshya managed to edge ahead at 7-6. However, Chou regained the lead, going into the break with an 11-9 advantage. Lakshya struggled to counter Chou's smashes and was challenged by Chou's speed. Despite this, the Indian player tried his best to fight back, evening the score from 11-15 to 15-15. At that point, coach Prakash Padukone encouraged Lakshya to keep Chou under pressure and not worry about long rallies. Lakshya heeded this advice, successfully returning almost all of Chou's smashes and showcasing excellent defense. However, a momentary lapse cost him the first game.

Before the second game, Prakash tried to calm Lakshya, advising him to make better judgments, stay calm, and avoid rushing. The second game started similarly to the first, with neither player giving an inch. Following his coach's advice, Lakshya slowed the game down and engaged in longer rallies, eventually securing the game.

In the third set, Lakshya began to dominate Chou from the start, leading 8-4 at one point. Despite losing three previous matches against Chou in the third set, Lakshya demonstrated his prowess on the grand stage, giving no opportunity to his opponent and winning the game 21-12 in style .