Paris (France): Indian shuttler Lakshay Sen clocked an easy win over compatriot HS Prannoy to book a berth in the quarterfinals of the men’s singles event at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Sen defeated Prannoy with a scoreline of 21-12, 21-6 and cleaned up the match within 40 minutes of the start.
Lakshya was coming into the match after beating a mighty opponent in the form of Indonesia's Jonatan Christie and so he was riding high on confidence. Prannoy was coming on the back of a hard-fought victory over a Vietnamese opponent. The rift between the form of the players and momentum was very evident right from the start as Lakshya troubled Prannoy with fast-paced smashes. The 13th-ranked player in the world tried to fight back but Lakshya was going too strong.
The 22-year-old Indian shuttler gained a peak form in the last set and left no chance for Prannoy to show any resistance. He foiled the second set by 21-6 and set up a meeting with Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei in the quarter-finals. Apart from Lakshya, PV Sindhu is the only hope who can bring India a medal in the sport of badminton.
Lakshya also became only the third Indian male player after Parupalli Kashyap and Kidambi Srikanth to reach the quarter-finals of the Olympics. Kashyap and Srikanth had reached the last 8 in the 2012 and 2016 Olympics respectively.
India have already won three bronze medals so far in the Paris Games and the Indian fans will expect at least a medal in the badminton.
