 "Lakshya Sen became the first Indian male shuttler to qualify for the semi-finals of men's singles badminton at an Olympics. AP")
Lakshya Sen missed out on a medal after losing to Lee Zii Jia in the bronze medal match on Monday but it was a historic campaign for the 22-year-old shuttler on his Olympics debut in Paris. Sen created history on Friday (2 August) at the 2024 Paris Olympics, becoming the first-ever men’s singles badminton player from India to qualify for the semi-finals of a Summer Games. In the semi-finals, Lakshya Sen lost to World No. 2 Viktor Axelsen of Denmark 20-22, 14-21, and eventually missed out on a place in the final.
In the bronze medal match, Sen won the first game before going down 13-21, 21-16, 21-11.
Paris Olympics: News, schedule, medals tally and moreLakshya Sen had beaten compatriot HS Prannoy to sail into the quarter-finals.
Here’s all you need to know about the star shuttler.
Who is Lakshya Sen?
Lakshya Sen was born on 16 August, 2001 in Almora, Uttarakhand. In 2016, Sen trained at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy, and enjoyed an excellent year in the junior badminton circuit. Sen won the bronze medal at the Junior Asia Championships after losing to China’s Sun Feixiang 12-21, 16-21. Sen suffered a few pre-quarterfinal exits in 2017, including at the Syed Modi International tournament and the Junior Asia Championships.
He reached the quarter-finals of the Vietnam Open in 2017 where he lost to Japan’s Kodai Naraoka, against whom Sen would lose again in the Junior World Championships that year.
In 2021, he won bronze at the BWF World Championships. He lost to Kidambi Srikanth 21-17, 14-21, 17-21 in the semi-finals.
2022 was a breakthrough year for Sen as he would reach the final of the prestigious All England Open, eventually going down to Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen. That year, though, saw Sen taste success on the big stage as he won the Thomas Cup trophy with the Indian team that consisted of the likes of Kidambi Srikanth, HS Prannoy, and the Satwik-Chirag pair.
In 2022, Sen achieved a career-best ranking of World No. 6 in the BWF World Rankings. He has also won the India Open in 2022 and the Canada Open 2023 tournaments.
What are Lakshya Sen’s achievements?
—Won bronze at the 2016 Asian Junior Championships in Bangkok (Boy’s singles)
—Won gold at the 2018 Asian Junior Championships in Jakarta (Boy’s singles)
—Won gold at 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires (Mixed team)
—Won silver at 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires (Boys’ singles)
—Won bronze at 2020 Asia Team Championships in Manila (Men’s team)
—Won bronze in 2021 BWF World Championships (Men’s singles)
—Won gold at 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games (Men’s singles)
—Won silver at 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games (Mixed team)
—Won gold in 2022 Thomas Cup in Bangkok (Men’s team)
—Won bronze in Asia Mixed Team Championships (Mixed team)
—Won India Open in 2022 (Men’s singles)
—Won Canada Open in 2023 (Men’s singles)