Badminton, Olympics 2024: Lakshya Sen expands his limits with stunning run in Paris

As Lee Zii Jia leapt in the air and stretched to his forehand side, Lakshya Sen had his heart in his mouth. The Indian had just done what he should have avoided throughout the evening at the La Chapelle Arena – lifting the shuttle high from the net.

Only this time, it was the match point for Lee. The Malaysian not only connected the shot, he picked the bones out of the shuttle. It went down and down within the blink of an eye before hitting Sen flush on the thigh.

It was probably one of the fastest smashes of the match. Or so it seemed, as it shattered the Olympic dream for Sen.

After a splendid run into the 2024 Paris Olympics semi-finals – the first-ever for an Indian in the men’s singles event – the 22-year-old from Almora fell agonisingly short of a spot on the podium. He had conceded the bronze medal match to Lee 21-13, 16-21, 11-21 after being a game up.

Sen, after all the hard work over the course of last week, lost his second match in two days. Three days back, he was just a win away from a historic Olympic podium. On Monday, he stood a broken man.

“I had my chances,” Sen muttered to the...

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