"They cook and send food for me daily" - Lakshya Sen shares a sweet family moment post loss in Paris Olympics 2024 semi-final
In sports, the support from an athelete's family is more important than any other thing, at least in India, where families usually urge their children to not focus much in sports.
Lakshya Sen's family however is different. They have been a strong support to the shuttler ever since he took up the sport. Moreover, they are currently in Paris to witness their child play against the best of shuttlers over the world.
Lakshya, who was being considered as a medal hopeful, particularly for gold, faced a heartbreaking defeat today at the hand's of Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Viktor Axelsen. The Indian shuttler went down to the Danish shuttler 22-20, 21-14. Notably, Sen was leading in both sets (15-9 and 7-0), but the brilliance and aggression of Axelsen helped him get the better of the 22-year-old.
Here's what Lakshya Sen said on his family in the post-match interview to the broadcasters:
"My parents are in the crowd. They cook and send food for me daily be it lunch or dinner whenever they can. I meet them in between matches whenever I have time. My mother, father and brother is here. They have really been a good support. I am thankful to everyone in the crowd."
Lakshya will now be taking on Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia in the bronze medal match which is scheduled for tomorrow. He will be aiming to up India's medal tally to "four" after Manu Bhaker, Sarabjot Singh and Swapnil Kusale, earned bronze medals in the past few days.
Here's what he said about the support from the crowd for tomorrow's encounter:
"There is a lot of support when so many people turn up. I would want the same support tomorrow."
Lakshya Sen's Paris Olympics 2024 journey before the semi-final
"On fire" will be a understatement if we use it for Lakshya Sen's case. He has dominated every single encounter and even registered one memorable comeback in the knockout stages too.
In the first match, he defeated Guatemala's Kevin Cordon, following which he outwitted Belgium's Julien Carraggi. The next match saw him lock horns with Indonesia's Jonatan Christie, where he once again outplayed the opponent.
The round of 16 clash saw him go up against fellow Indian shuttler HS Prannoy, a challenge he went past with ease. The quarter-final tie against Chinese Taipei's Chou Tien-chen was perhaps his toughest clash. Sen lost the first game to come back in the next two, by implementing the opposition's own strategy on him.