Lakshya Sen lets it slip against Viktor Axelsen in Olympic badminton semi-finals

Lakshya Sen in action at the Paris Olympics (X/BoriaMajumdar)

Not many players have led 20-17 against Viktor Axelsen in a crunch match in the last few years. Far fewer have had a 7-0 lead against him. Lakshya Sen found himself in that privileged position and, yet, failed to close things out. The 20-22, 14-21 defeat against the reigning Olympic champion was not an upset actually, but the Indian was in a position to beat the great player from Denmark.

The diminutive Lakshya was at his dynamic best for a long part of this Olympic men’s singles semi-final against the World No. 2, who has won almost everything badminton can offer in the last few years. The player from Almora in Uttarakhand was calling the shots on most occasions, until he missed a few at the most critical stages of the duel against his towering opponent.

At 20-17 up in the first game, having reached the 20th point with as good a cross-court smash as one can play, Lakshya was the overwhelming favourite to seal it. Then, believe or not, came a service error. Players at this level don’t make that mistake. Lakshya committed that on game point against a player who has conquered everything. Axelsen pounced on it and made Lakshya pay the price.

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It could have been a crushing blow and end of the match for the Indian, who has also had some success at the top level, having won a World Championship bronze and reached the All England final. To the surprise of everyone and the shock of Axelsen, the 22-year-old stormed to a 7-0 lead in the second game. It was his game to lose after that and that’s what he did.

Lakshya’s personal coach, Prakash Padukone, was happy to note a few days ago that his ward was not making errors and playing flawless badminton. In the biggest match of his life, Lakshya committed a number of unforced errors. It’s true that Axelsen dug deep and played some unbelievable attacking shots, but his opponent conceded some soft points as well.

Lakshya doesn’t have to feel too disappointed because he gets another chance to become the first Indian man to secure an Olympic medal in badminton. What he has done so far is commendable. But he has to get over this first. It was a match against an illustrious player that he could have won. Once he lets that sink in and gets ready for the next one, against Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia, he will still have another shot at history.

In exclusive arrangement with RevSportz