NEW DELHI: Lakshya Sen on Friday moved a step closer to his maiden Olympic medal, becoming the first Indian male shuttler to reach the semifinals at the Olympics.
The 22-year-old from Almora defeated Chinese Taipei's Chou Tien Chen 19-21, 21-15, 21-12 in a thrilling three-game match at the Paris Games.
Sen, a bronze medallist at the 2021 World Championships, displayed a combination of speed and accuracy while maintaining his composure during crucial moments of the match against world number 11 Chou, who is also a 2022 World Championships bronze medallist.
The victory sets up Sen for a semifinal encounter against the winner of the match between 2021 World Champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore and Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark.
Previously, only PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal, both women's singles players, have gone beyond the quarterfinal stage in the Olympics for India.
In men’s singles, Parupalli Kashyap and Kidambi Srikanth had reached the quarterfinals in the 2012 London and 2016 Rio editions respectively.
Mounting a remarkable comeback, Sen edged Chen in the men's singles quarterfinal that lasted 75 minutes.
For Chou, 34, a former world number 2, who was diagnosed with colorectal cancer in 2023, it was yet another quarterfinal finish at the Olympics.
Sen entered the match as the underdog, having lost four of his last five encounters with Chou.
Despite the odds, Sen was well-prepared for the match to be a demanding one. The two players displayed exceptional court movement, countering each other's shots and keeping the score tight throughout the match.
In the opening game, Sen initially lost some points on his forecourt returns but adjusted his strategy by incorporating more cross-court shots. The game remained close, with the score fluctuating from 2-5 to 5-5 and later to 15-15.
Sen then managed to secure a three-point lead when Chou made errors, including a long backhand and a netted return. Chou quickly rallied back, leveling the score at 18-all with three aggressive returns.
Although Sen saved one game point, Chou clinched the first game with a powerful overhead smash.
The second game continued the intense back-and-forth dynamic. Both players adapted their strategies to outmaneuver each other continuously. At 7-7, play was briefly interrupted when Sen requested a review on a close line call, which was ruled against him. Despite a brief conversation with the umpire, Sen maintained his composure and surged from 13-all to score five consecutive points.
The third and final game saw a notable shift in momentum in favor of Sen. Chou began making uncharacteristic unforced errors, and his returns lost their precision. Sen, on the other hand, increased his pace and kept executing successful returns, smashes, and drop shots.
Sen quickly amassed a 16-11 lead, outpacing Chou's attempts to close the gap.
A superb cross-court smash gave Sen eight match-point chances and he sealed it when Chou hit the net after a flat exchange.
