Lakshya Sen devastated after crushing defeat: ‘Not able to take it’

Lakshya Sen was an emotional wreck as he came tantalisingly close to winning the first medal of his Olympics career. Heading into the bronze-medal match against Lee Zii Jia, Lakshya was the outright favourite, having led his Malaysian counterpart 4-1 in the previous five encounters. Having lost an opportunity to play for either gold or silver, Lakshya took his first big step towards bronze when he beat Lee by a comprehensive margin of 21-13. But in the second game, Lee turned the script, racing to a nine-point advantage, from where Lakshya could not come back. Levelling the contest at 21-16, Lee closed out the decider storming to a 21-11 win and causing India a heartbreak on Day 10 of the Paris Olympics 2024.
With the likes of PV Sindhu and the favourites for the doubles title Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty already knocked out, India’s hopes of one final dash for a medal were pinned on young Lakshya’s shoulders but despite giving it his all, the 22-year-old’s efforts were not enough as India’s 12-year medal-winning streak at the Olympics comes to a screeching halt.
Two heartbreaks in 24 hours can be a tough pill to swallow, and it was evident in Lakshya’s body language as he gained all the courage in the world to speak. Even as the words took time to come out of his mouth, you can be sure that he will only learn from this experience and hopefully come good on Victor Axelsen’s prediction about him for LA Olympics.
“I had my chances. Could have done better in the second set. Credit to him; he played very well. I am not able to take it at the moment. In between the points, there was blood on the floor. I was losing some momentum, having a break in my game. Serving again and trying to refocus on the match,” Lakshya said after the match.
However, let the outcome not take the sheen off just how memorable this campaign has been for the rising Indian shuttler. Despite getting his win against Kevin Cordon ‘deleted’ after the Guatemalan player withdrew due to injury, Lakshya went from strength to strength, steamrolling opponents Julien Carraggi, Jonatan Christie, HS Prannoy and Chou Tien-Chen en route to the semi-final.
Lakshya was fatigued and even lost some blood as the wound on his elbow caused a medical interruption couple of times, but he used neither as an excuse. “I came well prepared. It has been quite a tough week overall, but I kept on building. I was ready to give my 100 percent,” Lakshya said.