PARIS: “I think Lakshya (Sen) was better for most of the match. I won it here (pointing at the temple of his head).” Viktor Axelsen’s words pretty much captured the essence of the men's singles semifinal between him and his Indian counterpart.
The Dane's tall frame is intimidating. He walks languidly but, at 6 feet four inches, deceiving him on a court that measures 22*17 feet seems improbable. He is quick and plays tactically. He is World No. 2. But Sen, at five feet nine inches, almost beat him in the semifinal of the Paris Olympics, with a vociferous crowd egging him on. Almost is a tricky word in the English dictionary. In sport, it is an embodiment of uncertainty. Here, it was a slow dis-mentalling of a resilient Sen.
The score was 20-17 and Lakhsya needed just one point to take the first game. The crowd was going wild and that one point could have titled the game in his favour, maybe the match as well. Three points are too big a cushion in the world of badminton where the margins of victory are as thin as air. Lakshya netted the service. Two shots went long. Axelsen sniffed his chance and grabbed it. “Out there you cannot think. I tried not to think, because if you start to think then you have problems. I think Lakshya, he thought a lot about it. It was a big thing for him obviously. I know what the rings do to you mentally,” Axelsen said.
Not always does one have Axelsen by the scruff of his neck and still be unable to capitalise. At 30, Axelsen is one of the swiftest there is. He used his experience as a foil against Sen, who is eight years his junior.
Sen started brilliantly but erred on the way. It could be nerves or the burden of the five rings. In the second game, the drift of the game was in Lakshya’s favour. He was 7-0 up. Axelsen came back and after 10 points, he did not want to take a chance. Sen was forced to make mistakes, tried to claw back, sparked a glimmer, then dimmed out. At 14-20, he could have done nothing much.
Sen never looked like he would be defeated. He lifted his game just like when he beat world No 4 Jonatan Christie in the group stage. The rallies and the drop shots seemed fluid. He used smashes when he needed to and covered the court fluently. He will have another shot at a medal and a very big chance too, against unfancied Lee Zii Jia on Monday.
Sen has been a revelation here at the Olympics. After medal hopes, the doubles exponents Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty and double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu crashed out, the 22-year-old has been the beacon of hope. “Closing the first set was important,” he conceded at the mixed zone. “Maybe if I had done that, I would've had better chances in the third. But overall, it was a good match.”
With just over 24 hours to recover, Lakshya would not want to have his psyche bruised. He would not want to dwell on the past either. “Now is the time to look back and take a few good things I can work on for tomorrow,” he said. “And then just forget this, as any other match.”
“I have to go back and analyse with my coaches as to what really happened. But not to dig too much into this match, I have a match tomorrow. So all the focus is on that,” he said.
Yet, he was rueing about missing his chances. “I had to be maybe a little bit patient at that time, and maybe try out a few things that could've gone the other way,” he said. “Overall, in that moment, I did whatever came to my head.”
Understandable, for when the shuttle is hit back at over 300km per hour, the shuttler only gets a fraction of a second to think. Competing at the Olympics is not easy. It has its own peril and challenges. Axelsen will be defending his Tokyo 2020 gold. “Lakshya was maybe starting to think, like 'if I grab this set, then I have the momentum, I have a big chance'. But again, it's so natural to think like that," he said. "I've been there myself. I think he got a little nervous. I knew that I had to strike. I have to keep the shot on the court and play the right shots, because then he will maybe make mistakes because of the nerves. That's what happened.”
Lakshya has a 4-1 head to head record against Lee and will start as the favourite to win bronze on Monday. If he does, then this would be the first medal for Indian men at this Olympics.