New Delhi, India

Lakshya Sen missed out on a medal in the recently-concluded Paris Olympics 2024 edition. In the showpiece event, the Indian shuttler beat big guns like Jonatan Christie and Chou Tien-chen to reach the men's singles semifinals. He, however, lost to eventual gold medallist Viktor Axelsen in the semifinal -- despite having a good lead -- and went on to lose the bronze medal face-off versus Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia. Lakshya, thus, stated that while he can be proud of his Paris 2024 performance, it is still 'going to hurt for some time'.

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Lakshya, who featured in his first-ever Olympics, was quoted by the Indian Express, "Overall, in how I played, there were some things I was happy and proud about at Paris. But this is gonna hurt for some time. I’m looking to add and change a lot of things moving forward."

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Recalling his semifinal loss versus Axelsen, Lakshya opined, "In the second game, that side of the court had some drift. Even after the lead, I knew I couldn’t control the shuttle. And then the momentum suddenly changed, and he started playing better. Even when he drew level, I was fighting for every point."

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He concluded, "I’m happy that my starting strategy was working well. But in crucial situations, I could’ve played differently. I didn’t play well at all in the end, and there were a lot of unforced shots (errors). I needed to be a bit more patient."

After the Paris Olympics, Lakshya has skipped the Japan Open. The 23-year-old, who has won hearts with his performance in the Paris mega event, is expected to make a strong comeback soon.