Indian badminton player Lakshya Sen’s Olympic journey came to an end in the bronze medal match at the Paris Olympics 2024. He battled hard, defeating Lee Zii Jia in the first game 21-13, but ultimately fell short in a close match, losing 21-16 in the second and 21-11 in the decider.
Despite missing out on a medal, Lakshya Sen’s performance has garnered widespread praise, particularly from his family. His cousin sister, Kanchan Rautela, highlighted his remarkable journey from a small village in Almora, Uttarakhand, where resources were limited. “This in itself is an achievement, a small child from a small village in Uttarakhand, and according to me there were not many resources at the time, it has become better by one level, but at the time when (Lakshya Sen) was practising there was nothing at that point, to come from a place like that and to put Almora on the map, what can be a bigger achievement than this, a small village in Uttarakhand is being recognised by the entire world, it says it all.”
Lakshya Sen’s nephew echoed these sentiments, emphasizing the impact his uncle has made on Indian badminton. He believes that Lakshya Sen will now be a role model for aspiring athletes, particularly after becoming the first Indian to reach the Olympic semi-finals in his debut appearance. “The youth, who saw the badminton match, and are opting to take up badminton as a career, they have started to admire him and see him as their idol, just like Virat Kohli is to cricket, when it comes to badminton, he was the first person who in his first Olympics made his way into the semi-finals, it cannot be any one else from Lakshya Sen, the first Indian to do so.”
While Lakshya Sen missed out on the bronze medal, his family remains optimistic about his future. They believe that at a young age, he has the potential to achieve even greater success in future Olympic Games.
