Sensational Sen first Indian male shuttler in Olympic semis

“Slap the shots, don’t lift. DO NOT LIFT,” screamed U Vimal Kumar from the coach’s corner.
Having lost the first game and the first couple of points in the second, it was a now or never moment for Lakshya Sen. The last Indian left in badminton competition in Paris, the 22-year-old had the burden of carrying India’s flag to the medal rounds for the fourth consecutive Olympics.
And he didn’t disappoint. To start with, the Almora resident reduced lifting the shuttle which were coming back at him as unpickable bullet smashes from Chou Tien Chen, raised his intensity and unveiled his tactical best to win 19-21, 21-15, 21-12 on Friday.
Lakshya became the first Indian to make the men’s singles semi-finals at the Olympics, bettering the record of Parupalli Kashyap (London 2012) and Kidambi Srikanth (Rio 2016), who had both reached the quarter-finals.
“This is something I have always dreamt of, and it felt really good to achieve it. There’s a lot more to do because now is the real test,” Lakshya said in the mixed zone after his marathon match that lasted an hour and 15 minutes.
“From here, now it is time to recover and be ready for the next match. I have to focus 100 percent on the next match. To win, I will prepare and do whatever there is needed to in the next 48 hours.”
It was a real test, both mental and physical, for the unseeded Indian against the Chinese Taipei shuttler. Chou is 34 but is one of the fittest players on the circuit, taking extra care of his body, especially after recovering from colon cancer last year. When it comes to the mental aspect, Lakshya, who turns 23 in two weeks, had lost three of his previous four matches against the 12th seed.
But what went in favour of Lakshya was his form, especially post his sensational and unexpected win in the last group stage match against reigning Asian and All England champion Jonatan Christie of Indonesia.
Lakshya extended his form from that match a day earlier to the Porte de La Chapelle Arena on Friday.
Initially, Chou’s jump smashes, coming from the elevation of around 12 feet, were too hot to handle despite Lakshya’s traditionally brilliant defence, enough to just edge past the Indian and clinch the first game.
The start of the second game was on the same note with both shuttlers pushing each other to all four corners of the court. Both engaged in long rallies with Chou flummoxing Lakshya with disguise at the net after a series of smashes.
In an interesting contrast, while Chou largely used down the line smashes, Lakshya employed smashes taking aim at the world No.11 Chou’s body. As the game became faster, Vimal kept telling Lakshya to slow the game down and play to his advantage, a point he emphasised during the mid-game breaks.
Lakshya followed the advice. Though the rallies continued to be long, Lakshya slowed down the game, frustrating Chou, who had also exited the last two Olympics at the quarter-final stage, forcing him to make errors. The consequence was that his attacks decreased as he was making more errors in exasperation.
In a brilliant contest of reflexes, Chou eventually started to slow down with Lakshya, 11 years younger, taking charge at the net. While earlier a net shot would be followed by a lift, there were far more net exchanges in the second game as Lakshya led 11-10 at the mid-game break.
The Indian world No.22 started extending his lead as he won seven straight points from 13-all to reach game point. Chou saved two but Lakshya’s drop was enough to level the contest and push the match into the decider.
The Indian, who has a penchant for doing well at the big stage, was clearly more energetic and motivated in the third game as he took a big lead, 9-4, which he maintained at 11-7 at the interval.
The 2022 Commonwealth Games champion made sure he maintained the lead throughout the rest of the game in a battle of attrition as he easily claimed the third game and the contest, yelling a ‘come on’ into the camera to celebrate his win.
Lakshya will play the winner between reigning champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark and former world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore on Sunday.