 "Lakshya Sen: Heartbreaking loss vs Axelsen a badminton masterclass ahead of bronze medal test")
Lakshya Sen has already surpassed where no Indian male shuttler has ever been. While he isn’t an Olympics finalist as we all had hoped and the dream of seeing India win a first badminton gold at the Summer Games will have to wait at least four more years, Sen became the first male shuttler to come close to a medal.
On Monday, he will return to the court a little over 24 hours after a heart-wrenching defeat to reigning champion Viktor Axelsen in the semi-final. Armed with the experience of what not to do, Sen will take another shot at the medal. It wasn’t his first major tournament semi-final defeat — having previously won bronze at the World Championships three years ago — but the Olympics carry a different weight.
At the pinnacle of sporting tournaments, technical superiority is often overshadowed by mental toughness.
Against Axelsen, Sen excelled in almost every aspect of the game except one: absorbing the pressure. Axelsen, the Tokyo 2020 gold medalist and two-time world champion, despite being challenged by the 22-year-old badminton sensation, was never out of the contest. As they say, it’s not over until it’s over.
Even the best sometimes have to wait for a chance to exploit a weakness in their opponent’s armour.
Eight years younger than Axelsen and seen as the poster boy of Indian badminton, Sen started aggressively. Although the Dane led 5-2 early on after the Indian went wide and long, the Almora lad quickly found his rhythm and cross-court smashes to surge 8-7 ahead. He took it to 15-9 before Axelsen clawed back to 16-18.
Occasion proves to be too big
Sensing the need to finish the game quickly, Sen sent a shot away that left Axelsen two-footed and a cross-court smash, that pierced the air and you could hear it on TV, to put himself on three game points.
For the first time, Axelsen — who had not lost a single game in the 2024 Games — looked uncertain. But, it’s not over until it’s over.
The possibility of putting the best male payer out there — Axelsen — a game down became too big for Sen, who went long twice, returned a serve wide, hit the net, and lost the game 20-22.
Axelsen in his post-match assessment was clear about how he won the first set: the pressure got to Sen.
“(At 20-17) I could definitely feel he was tense,” Axelsen said. “It was a big thing for him, of course, no Indian men’s singles player has done what he’s doing at the moment, so he maybe started to think about what he was doing, and the pressure was there. I’ve been there before and I totally understand what he was going through, but that was also my chance to grab the game, and it’s not easy to do so, but I did it, and overall I’m so happy about my mental performance in there.”
Been supporting this boy since he was 10 years old. So proud that at the age of 22, he has now become the first Indian Men’s Badminton player to reach the Semi finals of the Olympics. Keep going @lakshya_sen @ppbaindia @OGQ_India pic.twitter.com/VdlXw7Ds3c
— Viren Rasquinha (@virenrasquinha) August 2, 2024
Sen showed he knew how to recover from such a soul-crushing experience as he moved on quickly and grabbed a 7-0 lead in the second game only to once again become a victim of his over-thinking and the pressure of the occasion.
Lakshya Sen vs Lee Zii Jia: Date, time, head-to-head, live streaming
As Axelsen started to mount another comeback, Sen started to lose his control of the match despite leading 11-10 at the break. There were too many unforced errors with Sen going wide and Axelsen’s booming forehand smashes from thereon and in a blink, the match was over with the Dane taking the game 21-14.
“I would take my learnings and positives from this game and give my 100 percent in bronze medal match,” Sen said in assessing his performance and in all honesty while the gold and silver are out of reach, the lesson gained from the semi-finals defeat is gold dust in its own right. Axelsen concurred.
“Lakshya is an amazing player. He has shown in this Olympics that he is a very, very strong competitor and I am sure in four years from now, he will be one of the favourites to win the gold," the finalist said.
Luckily for Sen, gold is impossible but history is still within his reach.
Lee Zii Jia threat
He has a 4-1 head-to-head record against Lee Zii Jia with the last win coming at the 2024 All England Open.
Sen has a clear edge it seems even if Lee is the seventh seed and the Indian is unseeded.
Lee’s biggest strengths are his attacking play and his wide array of shots, but Sen has the fitness to match any style of play. This brings us back to where the story started: Sen has the game, and after the semi-final defeat, he now hopefully also has the insight into what not to do.
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