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India’s Lakshya Sen might want to play out of his pores and skin to maintain his maiden gold medal hopes alive when he takes on the reigning Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen within the males’s singles semifinals on the Paris Video games on Sunday. Making his Olympics debut, Sen created historical past on Friday after changing into the primary Indian particular person male shuttler to succeed in the final 4 of the showpiece with a 19-21 21-15 21-12 win over Chinese language Taipei’s Chou Tien Chen in an intense quarterfinal match.
The Indian could have yet one more uphill process at hand when he takes on Axelsen, the baby-faced badminton large, who has terrorised his opponents in the previous couple of years.
The 30-year-old from Odense, Denmark, has gained the Tokyo gold and Rio bronze, two world championship titles in 2017 and 2022, a Thomas Cup triumph in 2016 and a number of BWF world tour and Superseries titles to expertise a dominating run as world No. 1 from December 2021 to June 2024.
Sen, a 2021 World championships bronze medallist, has misplaced seven occasions to the tremendous Dane, who confronted defeat simply as soon as in opposition to the Indian on the 2022 German Open.
The 22-year-old, nevertheless, has proven little to no respect for the previous data in opposition to his higher-ranked opponents as far as he plotted the downfall of world quantity 4 Jonatan Christie within the group stage and Chou, ranked 11, within the quarters.
Axelsen has appeared a tad subdued this season with only one title on the Malaysia Masters. The Dane additionally suffered an ankle damage in early June in the course of the Singapore Open and was pressured to withdraw from the Indonesia Open.
Sen, however, hasn’t appeared fitter in his profession. He has been rock strong in his defence as he coated the courtroom properly and performed at a excessive tempo. His capacity to supply winners at will has held him in good stead.
The 1.94m-tall Dane has an all-rounded recreation and is thought to rain down brutal smashes from a terrific top.
Axelsen, who obtained a bye within the pre-quarterfinals, had only one actual problem within the quarterfinals however he acquired previous former world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore with out a lot ado.
Of their eight conferences, solely two matches have gone to a few video games, together with the competition in Muelheim an der Ruhr.
After seeing off the speedy and constant Chou in a gruelling three-gamer on Friday, Sen shall be now backing himself to prevail if it goes the gap in opposition to the Dane.
Axelsen had robbed him of All England glory two years again when he beat him within the closing. Then there have been these twin losses within the 2021 BWF World Tour Finals and Sen shall be itching to return the favour on the world’s largest stage.
A semifinalist will get two possibilities to return with a medal.
A win will preserve Sen on target for Indian badminton’s maiden Olympic gold, whereas a loss will give him a shot on the bronze medal within the play-offs.
“There’s lot extra work to do. Now, the true check begins,” Sen had mentioned after his quarterfinals.
For Sen, who wears “Sky is the restrict” tattoo on his neck, solely the gold can quench his starvation.
(Aside from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is revealed from a syndicated feed.)
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