Boria Majumdar in Paris
“It doesn’t matter how you are playing the whole year, but when it’s the Olympics, you need to peak in that particular week,” said Prakash Padukone ahead of Lakshya Sen’s badminton men’s singles quarterfinal against Chou Tien-chen. True to those words, Lakshya played some incredible badminton to advance into the semi-finals. He seems to have peaked at just the right time.
Soon after the match, Sen, who seemed in a hurry to go and watch the other quarterfinal, said: “I don’t mind whoever I play. I will watch the match and strategise with my team. I have a day to recover and will come back fresh and at my best.”
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As he spoke, it was evident that here was someone full of confidence. Sen is in “Sen mode”, and playing the best badminton of his life. It was evident after he lost the first game against Chou. That’s when he had to dig deep and show the resilience that we had missed in Satwik and Chirag, despite them being up in the third game. Sen dug deep, found resolve, and a kind of inner strength that saw him retrieve almost everything that Chou threw at him. Yes, he argued with the chair umpire when he wasn’t able to see a challenge on the giant screen in the hall, and each thing he did was evidence that he was that extra bit determined.
Chou is the most physically imposing of opponents, someone on a mission of his own after recovering from early-stage colorectal cancer last year. But Sen’s powers of recovery reduced him to utter exhaustion by the middle of the final game. There was one passage of play, where Chou had to abruptly change direction and run back to try and retrieve the shuttle. The look on his face was one of sheer disbelief. His previous two strokes had been vicious smashes, thundered down at speeds nearly twice that of a Formula 1 car. Both had been returned by Sen with precise flicks of the wrist. You didn’t need to be a body-language expert to figure out that Chou sensed it wasn’t going to be his day.
Sen, the truth is, doesn’t want to lose. Just doesn’t. A few months ago, he would just disappear from matches. Concede easy points and hand games to the opposition. Prakash Padukone and Vimal Kumar had repeatedly mentioned this to us ahead of the Games. That’s what they have worked on, and the results are for all to see. Sen is not giving a single easy point and is focussed on making it count. Yes, he will face yet another higher-ranked opponent in the semi-final. And this time round, it will be the best in the world – Viktor Axelsen. But then, even Axelsen is beatable. Sen would certainly want us to believe so.
The best thing about Sen in this tournament has been his composure. Be it the presence of Padukone and Vimal Kumar in his corner or some new-found control over his emotions, Sen is keen on staying in the present. “The tournament starts now,” he said. “I will just take one match at a time and do my best.” And as he spoke, it was clear he meant business. He has already accounted for Jonatan Christie, the No. 3 seed, and Chou, once the world No. 2. In this form, he could account for whoever crosses his path.
India have won a badminton medal in each of the last three Olympics. Now, Sen has the opportunity to continue the tradition, and also become India’s first male badminton medallist. He is on the cusp of history, and it isn’t unrealistic to say that he might just create it, and make Paris his own. Sen mode would then become a cult, if it isn’t already.
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