Lakshya Sen lost the bronze medal match to Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia on Monday 5 August in Paris Olympics. Lakshya took his first big step towards bronze when he beat Lee by a comprehensive margin of 21-13 in the first round. But in the second game, Lee bounced back, racing to a nine-point advantage, from where Lakshya could not recover. Levelling the contest at 21-16, Lee closed out the decider storming to a 21-11 win and causing India a heartbreak on Day 10 of the Paris Olympics 2024.
After the defeat in the bronze medal game, Lakshya Sen admitted that he could have definitely done better in the second set. Meanwhile, his coach Prakash Padukone said he was not happy with the fourth position of Lakshya Sen.
“I am not happy. Vimal (Kumar) is also not happy with the fourth position of Lakshya. Because he could have definitely got a medal. A lot of people might say… Axelsen might say Lakshya is the next best. That’s not good enough. I mean there was a possibility, if he had lost comfortably to Jonathan Christie, okay then it was a different issue. But having come this far, when he had an opportunity, he was leading. Of course he is still young. But he must realize this himself and not give it as an excuse. Can’t say I want more, I want more. Okay, then you work harder. Take some responsibility and work hard. I think if you do that, I think we can get better results. Because I think in terms of facilities, I don’t think anybody can do anything more,” said Prakash Padukone.
Lakshya Sen created history in the Paris Olympics before the bronze medal match. He became the first Indian male shuttler to reach the semis of the Olympics. Before him, only Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu had made it to the semis, with both winning medals.
“I had my chances. Could have done better in the second set. Credit to him (Lee Zii Jia); he played very well. I am not able to take it at the moment. In between the points, there was blood on the floor. I was losing some momentum, having a break in my game. Serving again and trying to refocus on the match,” Lakshya said after the match.
Lakshya was fatigued and even lost some blood as the wound on his elbow caused a medical interruption couple of times, but he used neither as an excuse.
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Source: Indian Express
