Lakshya Sen Enters Men's Singles Pre-Quarterfinals At Paris Olympics

India's Lakshya Sen progressed to the pre-quarterfinals of the Olympics men's singles badminton competition with a stunning straight-game win over Indonesia's world number 4 Jonatan Christie in the final group match in Paris on Wednesday. The 22-year-old from Almora, a 2021 world championships bronze medallist, displayed great maturity and tactical acumen to outwit Christie, the reigning All England and Asian champion, 21-18 21-12 in what turned out to be a lop-sided contest. Sen is likely to face compatriot HS Prannoy in the pre-quarterfinals. Prannoy will face Vietnam's Le Duc Phat later in the day.

Sen had defeated Kevin Cordon, a Tokyo Olympics semifinalist, in the opening Group L match on Sunday which was "deleted" after his Guatemalan opponent pulled out due to a left elbow injury.

A gold medallist at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Sen beat Julien Carraggi of Belgium before facing Christie.

The only time the Indian had defeated Christie was four years ago at the Badminton Asia Team Championships and came into this match with a dismal 1-4 head-to-head count.

However, Sen rose to the occasion on Wednesday and showed great maturity as he went about his business.

He tried to keep the shuttle flat and target the weak forehand of Christie, who looked to slow down the rallies and used his cross court shots at the corners to trouble the Indian, albeit without much success.

In the first game, Christie opened up a 5-0 lead and soon moved to 8-2. However, Sen regrouped quickly, kept the shuttle flat and waited for his opponent to make mistakes.

It worked as he moved to 7-8 before a thunderous forehand smash earned the Indian a slim one-point advantage.

Sen engaged Christie in fast and flat exchanges to move to 14-12, and the