PARIS:Lakshya Sen became the first Indian man to enter the semi-finals of an Olympics defeating Taipei’s Chen Tien Chou 19-21, 21-15 and 21-12 in a Paris 2024 quarter-final match at the Porte de La Chapelle Arena, here, on Friday.
Sen had beaten Chou just once in their four meetings before Friday, but the 22-year-old from Almora (Uttarakhand) played a strategically clever match to score an emphatic come-from-behind victory in 75 minutes.
Only two Indians – Parupalli Kashyap (London 2012) and Kidambi Srikanth (Rio 2016) – had progressed to the Olympic men’s singles quarter-finals. On his Olympic debut, Sen has now done one better and if he can retain his current form, could finish on the podium.
“It was a dream come true for sure and I think the real test starts now,” said Sen, who added that it was important to go back and recover well and prepare for the big semi-final on Sunday against the winner of the contest between tournament second seed Viktor Axelsen of Denmark and Singapore’s Yew Kean Loh.
The first two games between Sen and Chou were close affairs. Both players played an array of strokes but the unseeded Sen’s defence looked solid against the aggressive Chou, who played with a strap on his right shoulder.
Chou’s gameplan to draw Sen to the net produced a few points but Sen was clever enough to bring the shuttle back to mid-court, play the rallies and open gaps to force winners. The longest rally was of 51 seconds and Sen won a few of them
In such pressure matches, it was important to keep one’s composure. There was plenty of Indian support for Sen at the Arena but more importantly, the presence of veteran coaches Vimal Kumar and Prakash at his corner, helped.
After losing a point at 8-7, in the closely-fought second game Sen got flustered after not being able to see a video challenge on the giant screen and exchanged words with the Kiwi chair umpire Trish Gubb. But he recovered quickly, engaged with 12th seed Chou with crisp rallies and built a four-point cushion, never to look back.
In the deciding game, Sen stuck to his gameplan of playing rallies as Chou made several unforced errors, especially at the net, to gift points to the Indian. At 9-4, Sen looked to be in command. With both players tiring, it was important to keep the shuttle in play. Sen profited since Chou made more errors and at 18-12, the semifinal berth was virtually assured.
“I will do everything to give my 100 per cent in my next match. I am not thinking of anything else. I am going to watch Loh and Axelsen play and then analyse what’s best for Sunday,” said Sen.
