Paris Olympics: Lakshya Sen storms into the semifinals

Paris Olympics: Lakshya Sen storms into Badminton men’s singles semifinal

There’s a tattoo down Lakshya Sen’s neck that reads, “The sky is the limit”.

Whether or not he gets there, at least an Olympic quarterfinal isn’t the limit of his potential. No Indian men’s singles badminton player had ever reached the final-four at the Olympics before Lakshya crashed through the door and made history at the Arena Porte de La Chapelle.

The path to history wasn’t easy, with the 22-year-old from Almora having to overcoming a one-game deficit and push his defensive skills to the absolute limit to get the better of Taiwan’s Chou Tien Chen 19-21, 21-15, 21-12.

“It feels good to become the first Indian male to reach the Olympic semifinals. I’m happy. But I am also very tired. I need to rest before my next match,” he said.

Lakshya came into the match on the back of tremendous momentum, having beaten All England and Asian champion Jonatan Christie in a must-win group stage encounter and then compatriot H.S. Prannoy in the pre-quarterfinals.

But he was far from the favourite against Chou, a 34-year-old veteran on the international circuit who also had a 3-1 advantage against the Indian. The first game had Chou try to take Lakshya by surprise, varying his pace and pulling out disguised trick shots to wrong foot the Indian. Both both players tried to take control of the net, and although Lakshya had a single point lead at 18-17, the Taiwanese stuck to his tactics of moving the Indian around. Although Lakshya was scurrying around, he was putting in the work that would pay off late in the contest.

The first game might have been done but Chou knew he hadn’t yet won. Every match the two have played has been a physical one — all but one encounter going the distance. This was no exception. There was a moment in the second game, however, were Chou felt he had broken the Indian. The two were locked 7-7 when, after a breathtaking rally that had it all – defensive shot piled on jump smashes paired with diving retrieves, shuttles catching the net cord and bobbling over and drop smashes – Chou hit a drive over Lakshya and found the backline of the court.