Lakshya Sen makes fresh start with victory

Paris, July 29

Forced to make a fresh start after his opening win was wiped off the record books, Lakshya Sen stamped his class to defeat Julien Carraggi of Belgium in their men’s singles group match of the badminton competition.

The 22-year-old, who is making his Olympics debut, beat Carraggi 21-19 21-14 in the Group L match that lasted 43 minutes.

Sen’s victory over Kevin Cordon, a Tokyo Olympics semifinalist, in the opening group match on Sunday was “deleted” after his Guatemalan opponent pulled out of the Olympics due to a left elbow injury.

Sen will face world No. 3 and reigning Asian Championships winner Jonatan Christie of Indonesia in his final group match on Wednesday. The match will decide which of the two players moves forward in the competition as only one each from the 16 groups will qualify for the pre-quarters.

“It was hard to find my rhythm in the first game. I came back and towards the end I stuck in there. I did not try to play a perfect game but I just retrieved more shots and attacked on my chances whenever I could,” Sen said.