Lakshya Sen on losing to Viktor Axelsen at Paris Olympics: ‘I was fighting for every point but … this gonna hurt for sometime’

With Lakshya Sen, it’s never about some streaky ray of hope. When he gets going in a big-stakes match at a big stage with his big booming, pacy game building up big leads, he makes the world look beatable. When he crashes down with a thud, a grandfatherly Bruce Banner coach turns into a Paris-rattling Hulk.

National coach P Gopichand had reckoned gold was within Sen’s reach the way he put Viktor Axelsen under the pump to start the semis. It was because Sen’s exceptionally sharp reading of the game had dialled up his anticipation, backing the Indian against Thai Kunlavut Vitidsarn, had Sen made Paris Games finals. Sen’s own mentor Prakash Padukone was thoroughly scathing when the shuttler let go of a chance of a bronze medal, a day later, because the two wise men saw wild possibilities of an Indian man achieving the unprecedented, believing him capable. Alternate scenarios play out in their minds, and recurring regrets come with the job of sitting on the chair.

Sen, though, walks the post-Olympics equilibrium, like a tightrope. In Mumbai for a sponsor’s event on Tuesday, he says, “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,” he says crispy, before adding, “I’m looking to add and change a lot of things moving forward.” It’s one of those 4th place finishes, whose conversion into a medal India will ride along with, in the coming years – the country has never turned 4th into a podium before.

Paris: India’s Lakshya Sen (blue) during the Men’s Singles Semifinal badminton match against Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen at the 2024 Summer Olympics, in Paris, France, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (PTI Photo/Ravi Choudhary)

In the bronze playoff against Lee Zii Jia, Sen was 21-13, 8-3 up, when the Malaysian prone to implosions, pulled a heist on the Indian. The lead, Sen indicates, had been unexpected, and to his eventual dismay, lulling. “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. But …” he trails off, on what had been a stunning run to the brink of bronze, for a guy ranked 22nd.

It’s a familiar pattern with Sen, at All England, and against Anders Antonsen and Jonatan Christie, over the course of his career, though he’s nicked wins against both in latest battles. When he’s aggressive and operating at peak pace, he looks stunningly in control. But if the pace drops a tad, and that happens in a blink, there’s a significant drop in his game, where winning a big rally takes a toll on him.

Against Viktor Axelsen in the semis, 20-17 up, the Dane was on the ropes, hassled and taking forever to serve – a situation where Sen ought to have gone straight to the chair to hurry up the long framed opponent. But as is peculiarly recurrent with Sen, he allowed Axelsen to regroup, with no strong Plan B to drive the knife in, at the all-important endgame. Sen let the senior worm his way right back into the match, waiting for Axelsen to tire out, not quite pushing the attack, while the Dane simply bided his time, and switched gears.

Sen concedes Axelsen was far too solid towards the end, but also that he botched his chance. “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,” he says, though some might argue he got a little too patient, ceding space to the European.

It was audacity that had brought Sen until here, earning the right to evict the defending champion in the semis. Axelsen is now double Olympic champion, but Sen needed to believe he could have dislodged the crown. He had held strong against Christie, the All England champion, and won more matches the pool stage. “There was a lot of time after the draw came out and I had a good group stage. After two matches, I had a good gameplan against Jonatan Christie,” he recalls.

Crucially, he was prepared for a struggle. “I knew not everything will go my way, so I was focussed. My attack was sharp and defense strong so I could draw out errors from him. I just focussed on the next point,” he says. It was the perfect example of piling on pressure as underdog – with the burden of Indonesian medal on Christie. Axelsen, many notches tougher, but nevertheless not immune to being brought under pressure, proved too mighty, as the big medal was gone.

Christie had been threatening to defy, but that’s when Sen played the no-look, behind the back, backhand to nick the 18-19 situation. “We do play that in training. But I’m happy it came off here as a good shot in crucial time. The shuttle had actually gone past me, and I’ll say this would be Backhand Shot No 4 on priority. But it was the only shot left as option in that situation,” he says simply.

The freakishness of the no-look blindsided backhand where Sen swivelled and whacked his wrist behind the back, is in how rarely it amounts to anything good in the end. “There is a higher chance of making mistakes. And usually you don’t get any advantage because the shuttle was still in play after Christie returned. I knew the shot went viral, but maybe it played its part in the mental bit ….” Sen hinted, at breaking down the Indonesian.

Sen candidly says he’s watched it “many times,” but not searching for it specifically. “It just comes up a lot of times if I’m scrolling Insta reels,” he says.

India’s Lakshya Sen during the Men’s Singles Semifinal badminton match against Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen at the 2024 Summer Olympics, in Paris, France, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (PTI Photo/Ravi Choudhary)

Between reels and reeling from the disappointment of the near-medal miss, Sen insists it’s best to move on. From August 26-30, Sen will head to the Red Bull Athlete Performance Centre in Salzburg, Austria. Sen had undergone a precision challenge, and a 1 vs 4 reflex timer routine before the Olympics, but will head back to Europe for a detailed evaluation in ergometry (treadmill, rowing, cycling), lactate thresholds, oxygen spirometry (his VO2 Max was 69 heading into Games), and specific isokinetic tests for extremities, that will give detailed metrics on his reflex-heavy game. He will also be checked for injury risks by analysing his asymmetric movements, as well as a consult on mental training.

Sen relies heavily on fitness to play the game style he does, and he is keen to get started right away. A semblance of mental exhaustion that compounds when playing high pressure rallies, did fell him, despite being in peak shape. So he sees potential for getting even better. “I’m looking forward to collecting data on this, and focusing on the fitness side. Rated very highly by India’s top coaches for his game intelligence, he will however need to sort out his endgame freeze. And start building a proper Plan B, as he starts from scratch all over again in the next Olympic cycle.

Lakshya sen hopes to stay happy and proud of Paris, but deeply discontented about missing out on an Olympic medal.

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