Lakshya Sen carves history by becoming first Indian male shuttler to storm into Olympics semi-finals

Lakshya Sen made ripples in Paris as he became the first Indian male shuttler to storm his way into the semi-finals of the Paris Olympics 2024, at the expense of Taiwan’s Chou Tien Chen. Arena Porte de La Chapelle witnessed history in the making as Sen came back from a deficit in the first game which saw him lose it by 19-21 to fight his way back right to the top.

Sen had significant momentum going into the clash as he had already tasted a victory against All England and Asian champion, Jonatan Christie in a must-win battle in the group stages. Sadly enough for the Indian fans, he had to edge past his Indian teammate, HS Prannoy in the pre-quarters to book his battle ticket against Chen.

With a volley of disguised shots being hammered away at Lakshya in the first game, the latter still managed to secure a slender lead at 18-17. However, a late storm from the Taiwanese shuttler left Sen reeling as he lost the first set despite trying to unleash his best.

However, the second set saw Lakshya turning the tide back to fight. Despite a call going against him followed by a staggering smash from Chen, Lakshya soaked in the pressure, kept his calm and eventually after a holler from the former All England champion and the badminton legend of India, Prakash Padukone, Sen was back to his sparkling best.

Riddled with neat, fast, flat and razor-sharp exchanges, Lakshya brought out the tricks in his bag and this time it was the Taiwanese’s turn to be stunned and dragged into the territory that he never wanted to tread on. 

Soon after he opened the floodgates and inflicted an unforgivable assault on Chen, winning the second set by 21-15 and the third by 21-12, stamping his authority in the finest fashion. Sen will be playing the semifinal against Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen which is slated to be played tomorrow.