"I should have been more alert" - Lakshya Sen analyzes semi-final defeat to Viktor Axelsen at Paris Olympics 2024
Lakshya Sen suffered a heartbreaking loss in the semi-finals of the badminton men's singles event at the Paris Olympics 2024 today (August 4). Denmark's stalwart shuttler and men's singles defending champion Viktor Axelsen outwitted Sen 22-20, 21-14 in the match. While Axelsen will now go up against Thailand's Kunlavut Vitidsarn in the gold-medal match tomorrow, Lakshya Sen will be playing Malaysia's Lee Jii Zia in the bronze-medal tie on the same day.
Notably, Sen was leading in both the games against Axelsen, but he gave up the lead thanks to the Danish shuttler's brilliance. Axelsen registered a brilliant turnaround in both games, overcoming a 15-9 deficit in the first, and a 7-0 in the second.
Post the match, Lakshya Sen told the broadcasters:
"It was a big match. I should have been more alert. If I closed the first game, then I would have a chance in the third game of winning the match. In the second game, I started well but I couldn't keep the lead. He started playing well and then it was really hard to score against him."
Lakshya Sen analyzed the match against Viktor Axelsen and highlighted what went wrong for him. He opined:
"In the first game, he started attacking more towards the end. I became a bit passive as I defended most of the time. I think I should have taken the chances and attacked more at that time."
Lakshya Sen to now fight for bronze
Despite the loss to Viktor Axelsen, Lakshya Sen's hopes for a medal are still alive. He has already become the first male shuttler from India to partake in the semi-finals of the men's singles event. And now, he'll look to bring India's first men's singles medal to the country.
He said about the bronze-medal match against Malaysia's Lee Jii Zia:
"I will now prepare for the match. I will try to be at my 100% tomorrow. There are a lot of things to learn from today's match. I will continue to do the good things in the next match."
Lakshya Sen will aim to wrap up his debut Olympic campaign in style tomorrow.