Lakshya Sen stormed into the Olympics 2024 semifinals, defeating Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei 19-21, 21-15, 21-12. The 22-year-old has now become the first Indian badminton player to make it to the semifinals at the grand stage.
Sen will face either Denmark’s second-seed Viktor Axelsen or Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew in the semifinals, for a shot at a guaranteed medal. The Indian badminton contingent is yet to win a medal this year, and the 22-year-old is seemingly the only player in position to do so.
Lakshya Sen continues thrilling run at Olympics with second straight win
Lakshya Sen- Indian Badminton Star. What a Play, brilliant 👏 pic.twitter.com/UgoUmDIWwK
— Frontalforce 🇮🇳 (@FrontalForce) August 2, 2024
After defeating Kevin Cordon in his opening game, expectations were set high for the young shuttler. A solid performance against his opponent from Chinese Taipei helped him seal a spot in the semis.
India hasn’t returned without a medal in the Olympics since the 2012 edition. In London, Saina Nehwal won bronze while in 2016 and 2020, it was PV Sindhu, who has crashed out of this year’s edition.
The doubles team of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty has also been eliminated. And it now remains to be seen if Lakshya Sen can overcome all odds to continue India’s streak of winning medals in badminton at the Olympics.
