"We wish gold for him" - Fans react as Lakshya Sen makes it to quarter-finals of Paris Olympics
HS Prannoy and Lakshya Sen, two of India's prominent badminton stars, fought it out in the Paris Olympics men's singles Round-of-16 clash on Thursday (August 1), with Sen coming through 21-12, 21-6 to secure his place in the quarter-finals. An interesting fact is that Sen and Prannoy have faced each other eight times now and the 22-year-old Lakshya, who is nine years younger to Prannoy, is leading the head-to-head count 5-3 post this win.
Notably, this is also Lakshya Sen's maiden Olympics campaign and so far, he has been pretty dominant and technically strong. The former Asian junior champion has now become the third Indian shuttler (after Parupalli Kashyap in 2012 and Kidambi Srikanth in 2016) to reach the men's singles quarter-finals at the Olympics. He will next be up against Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei in the last-eight clash.
Fans on social media are upbeat, as Lakshya Sen has emerged as a new medal hopeful for them. Till now India has bagged three medals at the ongoing Paris Olympics and the sheer domination which Sen has been portraying on the court is making Indian fans dream about another.
One user wrote on X:
"What a great player. We wish gold for him."
Another fan posted:
"LAKSHYA SEN QUALIFIES FOR THE QUARTER FINAL. Sen, the unstoppable force!"
One user said:
"Hoping Lakshya Sen converts it into a medal no matter what now."
One fan however, had a different point of view to the Lakshya Sen vs HS Prannoy match. He opined:
"Isn't it disheartening to see our top players, Lakshya Sen and HS Prannoy,forced to compete against each other at Paris Olympics 2024?Shouldn't there be change to ensure a fair chance for every player to give best for their country?It's high time for a change."
Another fan congratulated Lakshya in a literary way. The account wrote on X:
"Lakshya Sen bhai ne apna lakshya nahi choda... Bhot bhot badhai ho."
One account refrained from keeping any expectations. It's clear from the post that they want Sen to bring something colorful back to India. The post said:
"Not putting any expectations. Just play your best bro."
India's badminton performance on Day 6 of Paris Olympics 2024
On one hand, where Lakshya Sen advanced to the quarter-finals of the men's singles event, the remarkable men's doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty bowed out of the competition. They were up against Malaysia's Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik and won the first game 21-13 but lost the next two games 21-14, 21-16 to end their Olympics campaign.