India’s Lakshya Sen suffered a 20-22, 14-21 loss to reigning champion Viktor Axelsen in the 2024 Paris Olympics men’s singles semi-finals at the La Chapelle Arena on Sunday.
Sen, ranked 22nd in the world, will now take on Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia in the bronze medal play-off on Monday.
The 22-year-old Indian had a slow start to the game, but managed to eke out an 11-9 lead at the mid-game interval even with Axelsen trying to pin him on back court.
Sen won seven points in a row on either side of the break as he opened up a 15-9 lead and threatened to run away with the opening game.
The second-seeded Axelsen, however, fought back, with his relentless attack. Though Sen managed to open up three game points with a 20-17 lead, a service error from the Indian opened up the flood gates for Axelsen.
The Danish shuttler pocketed five points in a row to stun Sen and win the opening game 22-20.
“I became a little passive towards the end of the first game,” Sen would say to the broadcasters at the end of the match.
Recovering from such a position could be difficult, but Sen came back with vengeance in the second game. He raced to a 7-0 lead and looked in comfortable position to force a decider, but Axelsen once again proved that no lead is safe against him.
Axelsen, now playing from the faster end of the court, rained down smashes one after the other as Sen struggled. The Indian, much like the latter part of the opening game, went into a shell trying to defend his way out, but it did not work.
Sen’s lead was cut down to a solitary point at 11-10 at the mid-game interval, before Axelsen raced away past the hapless Indian to wrap up the match in 54 minutes.
Axelsen will now go up against Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand in the gold medal match. The Dane has the opportunity to become only the second men’s singles shuttler after the great Lin Dan of China to win back-to-back Olympic titles.
