India’s Lakshya Sen made history by reaching the men’s singles semi-finals at the Paris 2024 Olympics badminton tournament on Friday. The unseeded Lakshya Sen overcame a game deficit to defeat Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien-chen, the 12th seed, in a thrilling three-game match that ended 19-21, 21-15, 21-12.
Lakshya Sen, the first Indian to reach the badminton men’s singles semi-finals at the Olympics, follows in the footsteps of Parupalli Kashyap and Kidambi Srikanth, who previously reached the quarter-finals at London 2012 and Rio 2016, respectively. Thus, his achievement marks a significant milestone in Indian badminton history.
“This is something I have been dreaming of, and it feels really good to be in the semi-finals,” Lakshya Sen said. “However, there is a lot more work to do, and now is the real test. It starts from here, so now is the time to go back, recover, and be ready for the next match on Sunday.”
In the first game, Chou Tien-chen, the world No. 11, took an early lead and edged out Lakshya Sen 21-19. However, Sen fought back in the second game, taking a narrow 11-10 lead at the break and then gaining an 18-13 advantage before winning 21-15. In the decisive game, Lakshya Sen surged to a 9-4 lead, capitalizing on Chou’s unforced errors to secure victory.
A world championships bronze medallist, Sen topped his men’s singles group, defeating world No. 4 Jonatan Christie and fellow Indian HS Prannoy in the round of 16. Lakshya Sen will face defending champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark in the semi-finals on Sunday.
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