India suffered yet another heartbreak at the Paris Olympics after star shuttler Lakshya Sen failed to win his Bronze Medal match against Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia. The match was an entertaining affair for all neutrals present in the Arena and all over the world.
After starting out on the strong foot in the first set, Sen looked formidable in his approach and won the first set 21-13. It was from here that it all went downhill for the Indian shuttler. With the second set of the match being a closely contested affair, Lee Zii Jia managed to conjure up a 3-point lead with the score being 19-16. Despite suffering an injury that led his right elbow to profusely bleed, Lakshya Sen kept playing on only to lose the second set.
In what was the perfect opportunity to finish off the match after winning the first set, Lakshya Sen managed to lose out on momentum and bottled the match in the third set. The Malaysian shuttler shot up to a 16-8 lead which was too much for Laksha Sen to chase down. This was the 2nd time in as many days that Laksha Sen had managed to bottle what should’ve been a sure-shot podium finish for India in Badminton.
At first, it was against the current Olympic Gold Medallist, Viktor Axelsen in their Semi-Final matchup on Sunday. Lakshya Sen, like he often does, started off playing really well and had 3 chances to win the first set after finding himself up 20-17. But he managed to bottle this golden opportunity to only rue it later. Even in the second set, he was up 7-0 at one point but again allowed Axelsen to dominate him to go through to the Finals.
Prakash Padukone’s harsh words for Lakshya Sen and other Indian Shuttlers
Following Lakshya Sen’s back-to-back bottle jobs at the Paris Olympics, Prakash Padukone, one of India’s Badminton legends and the Indian Badminton team’s mentor at the Paris Olympics had some harsh words for Indian shuttlers. Padukone stated, “After Milkha Singh in 64′ and PT Usha in the 80s, we have so many fourth-place finishes. I think that it’s high time that the players also take responsibility. At least for the results in this Olympics and the previous one, you cannot hold the federations and government responsible for the results. They have all done whatever they can. Ultimately the responsibility is on the players to go and deliver when it matters the most.
“The players need to introspect, and not just keep asking for more from the federations. They need to ask themselves whether they are working hard enough because all of these players have their own physios and all the facilities. I don’t think any other country, including the US, has so many facilities,” Prakash Padukone further stated.
Talking about Lakshya Sen’s loss and Viktor Axelsen’s statement about Lakshya Sen being a future contender for the Olympic Gold, Padukone said, “I and Vimal are not happy with the fourth position of Lakshya (Sen). He could have definitely gotten a medal. I know Axelsen might say that Lakshya is the next best, but that is not good enough because there was a possibility of a medal. Had he lost comfortably, it would have been a different issue. But to have come this far, to have taken the lead…I know he is young, but he cannot give this as an excuse. Take the responsibility and work harder.”
Fans will surely hope that Lakshya Sen and his fellow Indian shuttlers will take inspiration from the former Indian Great’s words and work harder to achieve their sporting aspirations.
