Paris 2024 Olympics Badminton Points Table: Group L updated standings after Lakshya Sen vs Jonatan Christie
Indian badminton player Lakshya Sen registered one of the upsets of the tournament, as he defeated world No. 3 Jonatan Christie of Indonesia in straight sets. As a result, he advanced to the Round of 16 of the badminton men’s singles event at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Sen, who was unseeded in this year’s summer Olympic Games, retained his position at the top of Group L with his second win in as many games – as well as a ‘deleted’ victory over Kevin Cordon. With this victory, World Championships bronze medalist Sen booked his place in the pre-quarterfinals in his debut Olympic Games.
With the end of the group stages for Group L, Lakshya Sen will stay at the top of the table with two wins and as many points. Meanwhile, Jonatan Christie will be disappointed to finish in the second position, with one win in two points, which means that the gold medal favourite is knocked out of the tournament.
Belgium’s Julien Carraggi ended the group stage at the bottom position as he failed to win any of his two matches.
The Round of 16 will start on Thursday, and Lakshya Sen may face his Indian compatriot HS Prannoy in the in the pre-quarterfinals clash.
Lakshya Sen shocks Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie with huge upset victory
To say that Lakshya Sen’s victory against Jonatan Christie was unexpected would be an understatement. The Indonesian shuttler, who was third-seeded in Paris, held a 4-1 advantage over Sen in head-to-head battles.
However, Wednesday’s match at the La Chapelle Arena was a huge upset in the end, as Sen dominated the proceedings and swiftly defeated Christie with a scoreline of 21-18, 21-12 in less than 50 minutes.
26-year-old Christie started the match in an energetic manner but soon lost footing after making a series of unenforced errors. Sen showed a brilliant sense of maturity that belied his age of 22 years.
The Indian badminton player led by a huge margin for the majority of the first set, but Christie fought back at the end to keep the scoreline at 21-18.
However, Christie, who continued his run of making unenforced errors at crucial moments, was powerless to stop Sen’s onslaught in the second set and eventually bowed out at 21-12.
With Lakshya Sen already through to the Round of 16, Indian fans will eagerly await the result of the clash between HS Prannoy and Vietnam’s Le Duc Phat.
Prannoy’s clash with Le will take place on Wednesday from 11:00 pm IST.