Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen misses Olympic medal in Paris: Achievements
Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen missed out on a much-deserved medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The 22-year-old lost to Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia 21-12, 16-21, 11-21 in the badminton men's singles bronze medal match. Sen could have been the first-ever Indian male badminton player with a medal at the Olympic Games. Sen, the 2022 Commonwealth Games gold medalist, scripted history after reaching the semis.
First Indian man with this feat
As mentioned, Sen could have been the first Indian man to win a clinch a medal in badminton at the Olympics. Sen earlier became India's first-ever male shuttler to reach the semi-finals at the Olympics. Only two other Indian male shuttlers have reached the last eight at the Games - Srikanth Kidambi (2016) and Parupalli Kashyap (2012).
Gold medal at CWG 2022
As mentioned, Sen won the gold medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham. The Indian shuttler beat Malaysia's Ng Tze Yong in the summit clash to enter the record books. He bounced back in the final to win 19-21, 21-9, 21-16. Notably, Sen was also part of the Indian contingent that won the silver medal in the mixed team event.
Sen joined these legends on CWG debut
Sen became the fourth Indian to win a men's singles title at the Commonwealth Games. He joined the likes of Prakash Padukone (1978), Syed Modi (1982), and Kashyap (2014). Notably, Sen reigned supreme on his CWG debut.
Sen helped India win 2022 Thomas Cup
Sen was part of Team India that won the Thomas Cup in 2022. The Indian badminton beat then 14-time champions Indonesia 3-0 in the final to claim the silverware. HS Prannoy, Srikanth, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, and Chirag Shetty also featured for India in the tournament. Notably, India had reached their first-ever final at the Thomas Cup.
Other notable achievements of Sen
Sen also won gold medal at the 2018 Asian Junior Championships. He defeated world junior number one Kunlavut Vitidsarn boys' singles final 21-19, 21-18. Sen won silver at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics (boys' singles).
