“My mindset was to fight for every point” - Lakshya Sen after beating Kevin Cordon on his Olympic debut
Ace Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen defeated the Tokyo 2020 semi-finalist Kevin Cordon from Guatemala in consecutive games on his Olympic debut in Paris in the men’s singles badminton competition on Saturday. July 27.
The 22-year-old Sen won by 21-8, 22-20 over defending Pan American champion Cordon in the match that lasted 42 minutes. Sen will next compete with Belgium’s Julien Carraggi on Monday, July 29.
Though he started off well, winning the first game quite convincingly, he faced a tough time in the second game, trailing by 16-20 at one point in time. However, he made an excellent comeback, clinching six successive points to bag the game by 22-20.
“In the first game, I got a good start. In the second game, Kevin played really well. From the other end, it was a little bit tricky to control the shuttle. In the end, I managed well and I am happy with the way I played today,” Lakshya Sen told JioCinema after the match.
“My mindset was to fight for every point and not give any easy points. My strategy was to take the game longer, have a few more rallies in the game, be sharp, alert, and not make mistakes,” he added.
Prakash Padukone and Vimal Kumar’s guidance helped Lakshya Sen to come out on top
Lakshya Sen completely dominated the first game, winning it in only 14 minutes. However, Cordon made a strong comeback, fighting back in the second game with a lead of 6-2 over Sen. Though the Indian closed the gap by 6-8, he made a few errors to trial by 7-12.
Just when Cordon was about to win the game and level 1-1 at 20-16, Sen put up an exceptional show, bagging six consecutive points to win the game by 22-20 and the match to start off his Olympic debut on a winning note.
Prakash Padukone and Vimal Kumar’s guidance from the court corner helped the young shuttler to come out of the pressure situation and bag a thrilling win in the second game.
“Prakash sir and Vimal sir advised me to be patient. They said not to attack every time. They advised me to control the shuttle better from the net, play freely, and prolong the rally,” he concluded.