Despite not being able to win a medal at the Paris Olympics 2024, 23-year-old Indian shuttler Lakshya displayed great mental fortitude and grit, to become the first Indian men’s shuttler to qualify for the semi-finals at the Olympics.
Lakshya Sen came extremely close to winning a medal but couldn’t hold his nerves to bag one. In the semi-final against Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen, Lakshya was leading 20-17 in the first set but failed to consolidate on that lead.
In the second set, Lakshya Sen was leading 7-0 but lost the plot at the hands of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold medallist. Axelsen eventually won the gold medal at Paris 2024 Olympics, beating Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn 21-11, 21-11.
In a conversation with podcast Humans of Bombay, Lakshay Sen revealed a phone conversation with Indian Bollywood superstar, Deepika Padukone.
“They have been really supportive. Even after the bronze medal match, she called me and said ‘It’s fine; don’t worry. You did good.’ Prakash sir has been like a mentor and father figure to me. It’s always nice to talk to them if I want any advice or want to talk to them freely,” said Lakshya Sen.
Lakshya Sen also highlighted where he failed in front of Viktor Axelsen and there was disappointment written all over his statements.
“After the match (semi-finals), I was devastated. It’s going to hurt for a while that I couldn’t give India the medal at this Olympics. I knew I was going to face Viktor Axelsen in the match and the way I had prepared, things were fine. Overall, I had the right tactics. I had the right approach. At the crucial stages I could have been a little more clinical. Now that I sit back and think, I know there are some things that I could have done better. Everything was fine, but towards the end, I wasn’t able to get there,” said Lakshya Sen.
Lakshya Sen is the 2022 Commonwealth Gold Medallist
In the Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022, Lakshya Sen had outclassed Malaysia’s Ng Tze Yong and had bagged the gold medal in the men’s singles event.
Srikanth Kidambi of India had bagged the bronze medal at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022.
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