They exercise secretively for a modicum of health and peace of mind in a country where the Taliban have stopped women from playing sports
sports1 day ago
Lakshya Sen started on Thursday as part of a four-strong cohort of Indian shuttlers vying for an Olympic gold in Paris. By the time the sun set at the Porte de La Chapelle Arena, he was the only one left.
Sen and HS Prannoy, his compatriot and Olympic village roommate, were pitted against each other in the round of 16. Their compatriots, men's doubles pair Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy had just lost their chance at a medal.
Sen, cementing his place as a rising star in Indian badminton, drummed up a decisive 12-21 6-21 win against Prannoy, who ranks nine spots above him in the world.
"Playing him on the biggest stage in the world was an emotional match, India playing against each other," Sen said. "But once I was there I was just in the zone."
"It's hard mentally because you're sharing a room and you keep training," Prannoy said. "It is emotionally tough to understand the whole situation."
"He came out with a lot of confidence and was playing a solid game ... I was nowhere near my best."
In cricket-crazy India, badminton has been making room for itself as an increasingly popular sport since former world number one Saina Nehwal won a bronze medal at the London Olympics. She was fast followed by PV Sindhu who won silver in Rio and bronze in Tokyo.
Later on Thursday, Sindhu lost her chance at a hat trick of Olympic medals when she was knocked out 19-21 14-21 by China's He Bingjiao.
"It's hard that I couldn't get the result that I wanted," Sindhu said. "It's Lakshya's first Olympics. I want him to give it his best and give it 930."
India sent seven players to Paris this year and Sen is the last one standing. Rankireddy and Shetty went out on Thursday in a nail-biting match with Malaysian duo Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi-Yik, and India's women's doubles players Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa were taken out 21-15 21-10 on Tuesday by Australia's Angela Yu and Setyana Mapasa.
Sen is on Friday set to play Taiwan's Chou Tien Chen, the former world number two men's singles player who has come back swinging from suffering cancer last year and played an impeccable game so far in Paris.
ALSO READ:
They exercise secretively for a modicum of health and peace of mind in a country where the Taliban have stopped women from playing sports
sports1 day ago
Batsman Sarfaraz Khan is all set to play under Rohit Sharma in the Bangladesh Test series which starts on September 19
sports1 day ago
Brentford attacked straight after kickoff and scored in 22 seconds before Erling Haaland's double secured a 2-1 win for City
sports1 day ago
‘I try to keep reminding myself to stay within the tournament because if I do well in the tournament, everything else takes care of itself,’ said the Spaniard
sports1 day ago
Investigations are still underway into Fahad Al Muwallad's fall on September 12, and the results will be shared with the relevant authorities
sports2 days ago
Four-time champion Rashed Al Qemzi surprisingly missed out on a place in the six-boat qualifying shoot out
sports2 days ago
Head coach Gautam Gambhir, in his first Test assignment, aims to secure a series win
sports2 days ago
This gold medal marks the country's second podium finish at the championship
sports2 days ago