 "Paris Olympics 2024: Lakshya Sen will be ‘one of the favourites’ for gold in LA 2028, says Viktor Axelsen")
Reigning champion Viktor Axelsen has backed Lakshya Sen to be among the favourites for gold in Los Angeles 2028 after defeating the Indian in their Paris Olympics men’s singles semi-final on Saturday, ending his quest for gold in the process.
**Paris Olympics: News, schedule, medals tally and more**Sen suffered the first defeat of what has otherwise been a sparkling Paris 2024 campaign so far, suffering a 20-22, 14-21 defeat at the hands of the Danish world No 2 who had won gold in Tokyo 2020 and bronze in the 2016 Games in Rio de Janiero.
The 22-year-old from Almora, Uttarakhand ended up losing in straight games against Axelsen despite leading 18-12 in Game 1, and later having three gamepoints in hand. Sen had bounced back in style in Game 2 to grab a 7-0 lead, only for Axelsen t claw his way back into the game and absolutely dominate the remainder of the match.
Commendable efforts against defending champ, we are proud of you Lakshya! 👏
— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) August 4, 2024
⏯️: 🥉 Medal Match 🆚 Lee Zii Jia 🇲🇾
📸: @badmintonphoto#Paris2024#IndiaAtParis24#Cheer4Bharat#IndiaontheRise#Badminton pic.twitter.com/kirGTkp8kt
It’s not the end of the road for Sen though — he can still maintain India’s streak of winning at least one badminton medal in the Olympics that began with Saina Nehwal’s bronze in London 2012. Sen faces Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia in the men’s singles bronze medal match on Monday, 5 August.
Paris Olympics 2024: Day 9 LIVE Updates
In a chat with JioCinema after Sunday’s semi-final, Axelsen heaped praise on Sen and expected him to be a force to be reckoned with in Los Angeles after dazzling on debut in Paris.
“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.
“An amazing talent and a great guy and I wish him all the best. He was playing so well in the big parts of both games, but I managed to relax and play the right game and win the match. But all credit to him as well,” said Axelsen, who needs just one more victory to emulate Chinese Lin Dan’s feat of winning two Olympic gold medals.
Axelsen faces Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn, who defeated Jia 21-14, 21-15 in the other semi-final, in the gold medal match on Monday at 7.10 pm, an hour after Sen’s bronze medal clash.
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