Lakshya Sen made history at the Olympic Games here, becoming the first Indian male shuttler to reach the semifinals in men’s singles badminton competition here on Friday. While PV Sindhu had bagged two medals in the Olympic Games and Saina Nehwal had claimed a bronze in the 2012 edition in London, no Indian male player had reached the medal rounds in the Olympics.
Sen achieved that feat with a hard-fought victory over Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei 19-21, 21-15, 21-12 in a 76-minute encounter in the men’s singles quarterfinals on Friday.
Sen, the lone Indian shuttler still in the fray in the Paris Olympics, lost the first game after the Taipei player opened up a 5-2 lead. Though the Indian star levelled scores at 5-5, his rival continued to maintain the upper hand and opened up a 14-9 lead, Sen again fought back to seven points in a row to take a 17-15 lead. However, Chen could not be denied, and he went on to win the game 21-19.
Sen took an early lead in the second game, but the Taipei player kept at his heels and after a quick exchange of points, they were tied 13-13 when the Indian shuttler, a former World Championships bronze medallist, took control of the proceedings and won five points in a row to open up a 18-13 gap. He went on to win the game 21-15 to take it to the decider.
Sen was on top of his game in the decider as he took control of the proceedings 2-3 and opened up a 9-4 lead. Though his opponent from Chinese Taipei tried to fight back, Sen maintained his upper hand as he won the game 21-12 to win the match and seal a place in the semifinals.
Lakshya Sen will next face the winner of the match between top seed Viktor Axelsen of Denmark and Loh Kean Yew of Singapore.
Meanwhile, in the women’s singles quarterfinals, Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi, the fifth seed here, will take on South Korea’s An Se Young while another former World Champion Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand will meet Indonesia’s Gregoria Mariska Tunjung, the seventh seed.
China’s He Bing Jiao, who ousted India’s PV Sindhu in the pre-quarterfinals and ended her dream of winning a medal in the third successive Olympic Games, will take on her compatriot and second seed Chen Yu Fei. The 2016 Olympic gold medallist Carolina Marin of Spain, the fourth seed, will face eighth seed, Aya Ohori of Japan for a place in the semifinals.