Paris Olympics 2024 India Day 7 Highlights: Lakshya Sen beats Chou Tien Chen to enter semis; Archers miss medal

Shivani Naik looks back at Lakshya's impressive comeback win: 

Lakshya Sen beats Chou Tien Chen — with clarity of shot-making, by pushing pace of rallies and with lovely net tumbles

#Paris2024 #Olympics #Hockey

OFFICIAL: Hockey Quarterfinals lineup ?

India's reward for beating Australia & finishing 2nd in the group is a quarterfinal against Great Britain, in a repeat of Tokyo. https://t.co/2DFWylTIXV pic.twitter.com/i03TNSHntW

— Vinayakk (@vinayakkm) August 2, 2024

Here we go, confirmation. The Sen Derby. It will be Lakshya Sen vs Viktor Axelsen in the semifinals on Sunday.

Men's 10,000m final The Olympic Record before today: 27:01.17 Joshua Cheptegi 26:43.14 for a new OR But THIRTEEN athletes actually ran faster than the previous Olympic Record. This track is going to see a lot of this.

Read more about it here. 

Loh Kean Yew with a better fight in the 2nd game, but Axelsen is still looking well in control. The winner faces Lakshya next. 

Men's Shot Put: Tajinderpal Singh Toor is out of contention for the final. His third attempt is also a foul, and not intentional this time. HE just pushed himself too hard and got over the white slab. Finishes with a best of 18.05m and that won't be enough.

Tajinderpal is struggling. He started with a 18.05m with his first attempt, and the 2nd is below that, so intentionally steps over the foul line. The non-automatic benchmark right now is around 20.78, so he needs a big one with his final attempt. 

His PB 21.77, SB 20.38. He's not quite getting it right yet.

Men's Shot Put Qualification, Tajinderpal Singh Toor: 11.40 pm

Tajinderpal Singh Toor’s event about to start. 

Qualification Standart: 21.35

All athletes meeting the Qualification Standard (Q) or at least 12 best performers (q) advance to Final

The top seed is out! Kunlavut Vitidsarn, the reigning world champion is into the semifinals as he beats China's Shi Yu Qi with a thumping scoreline. 21-12, 21-10. The men’s singles semifinals will feature 2 shuttlers from the Class of 2018 as Vitidsarn joins his mate Lakshya.

(LEFT) Close up of Lakshya Sen's neck tattoo, clicked by AP's Kin Cheung, as he faced Chou Tien Chen in the quarter-finals on Friday.

(RIGHT) Former India hockey player Viren Rasquinha shared a photo of Lakshya Sen when he was young. 

Lakshya Sen's semifinal is on August 4, Sunday. (He gets a much-needed rest day). It will be versus the winner of Viktor Axelsen vs Loh Kean Yew (who defeated higher seeded Li Shi Feng)

Shubhankar Sharma is the higher-placed Indian at the halfway mark of the men's golf tournament after carding a two-under 69 to be three-under overall and tied 25th.       

Compatriot Gaganjeet Bhullar is tied 52nd after a two-under 69 to be at two-over. There is a three-way tie at the top with Xander

Schauffele, Japan's Hideki Matsuyama and Great Britain's Tommy Fleetwood at 11-under par.

Women's 5000m Round 1, Heat 2: Parul Chaudhary finishes with a Season Best of 15:10.68 (although hasn’t competed that much this season, so that’s not too significant). She came 14th in the heat. Both Ankit and Parul are out of this event.

Lakshya Sen, at his first Olympics, is headed to the semi-finals. Against Chou Tien-chen, he was tested and stretched. But remained unbroken. 

Lakshya Sen had lost all three matches against CTC in the past when it went to a deciding third game. Today, he turned the tables and raced through the decider at the end to create history. First men’s singles player in Indian badminton history to reach the semifinals.

What an incredible response from Lakshya Sen to losing the first game. This was one of those bruising slugfests where both shuttlers threw the kitchen sink at each other. There were some rallies that were worthy of an Olympic final. Players flung themselves on the floor in last-ditch attempts to retrieve shots. Thunderous assasination attempts of smashes were hit at bodies of rivals.  

At the end of it all, Lakshya Sen won in three games. 

The final scoreline:  Lakshya Sen beat Chou Tien Chen19-21, 21-15, 21-12 

Chou Tien Chen won an incredible World Championships quarterfinal from 15-20 down, saving FIVE match points against Jonatan Christie to get his bronze medal. So he is capable of coming back from the brink. But Lakshya is ensuring he is not letting up.

Chou Tien-chen sytarting to feel the pressure. You can see the errors creeping into his game now. And Lakshya is in murderous mood at the moment. He reiterates this with a thundering smash straight at Chen, which can only nick with his racquet. 

Game 3: Lakshya Sen 15-10 Chou Tien-chen
 

Lakshya almost forcing Chou Tien-chen to his long and then the shuttle is flying out of bounds. Chou seems tired. That's forcing him to make length mistakes. 

He's headed into the mid-game interval with a 11-7 lead.

Lakshya Sen, the only remaining Indian shuttler in the Paris Olympics draw, is just 10 points away from a semi-final in his first Olympics! 

(PSST: Chou is at his third Olympics) 

Lakshya picking up from where he left off in th esecond game! He's up 5-3 in the final game and then stretches that to a 8-4 lead. 

Lakshya is getting all his judgment calls right. He picks off three points by using his mind right, rather than his racquet arm. 

Game 3: Lakshya Sen 8-4 Chou Tien-chen 

Women's 5000m Round 1: Ankita finishes with a timing of 16:19.38 in the first heat. She came 20th in a field of 21 competitors. One of the athletes did not start. 

Parul Chaudhary in Heat 2.

Lakshya Sen fights back! In an incredibly tight game (don't let 21-15 fool you) Lakshya gains late momentum and closes it out. Good luck making a highlights package for this match! So many wow rallies.

Both rush of blood (not recommended) and speed-hitting which can dilute shot selection (not ideal) have been gloriously aced by Sen in winning the second. Stomping to the second 21-15. That minor arguing after the line review could've potentially unsettled him. He just got cold-angry & went ballistic. 

The Indian will be favoured in a decider.

We head to a decider!!!

What imperious badminton from Lakshya in response to dropping the first game. He's pushed the match into a decider.

Lakshya Sen has managed to head to the mid-game interval with a 11-10 lead.

But Chou Tien-chen is is no mood to let the Indian get to the finish line. They are locked in a duel to the death, as they up the pace of rallies and all you see are the blur of racquets. Ocassionally, we see players throw themselves on the ground in desperate bids to return the shuttle like we saw with Chen in one point where he dove and then slid till the net.

The last five points have been fast and furious.

Lakshya leads 18-13 in the second game after dropping the first game.  

Meanwhile, an update from athletics where Ankita, Parul Chaudhary will be in action in the women's 5000m. Their races are from 9.40 pm.

Heat 1 has Ankita, Heat 2 has Parul. First 8 in each heat (Q) advance to Final

Sen's go-to is gonna be injection of pace. To try rushing Chen. Not sure speed's the way to go against Chen. But we'll know soon. 
Mad rally that last one, crazy retrieves, Chen sends it wide,  Victoria tells him to breathe deep / cheer up a li"tl

Lakshya Sen started the second game with a healthy lead, but now finds himself trailing to Chou Tien-chen by 4-5. 

But Lakshya finally ends the run of points to Chen by rallying out of his skin and finally Chen makes a mistake. 

Scores level at 5-5 in the second game.

Prakash Padukone's advice to Lakshya Sen in the break between the two games: "Judgment kar. bahaar jaayega. Aaram se. Koi jaldi nahi hai. There's no rush."

Those are Bumrah-yorkerish smashes from Chou Tien Chen. 

This is the sort of steep, no-holds-barred down the line attacks that Sen can expect tomorrow against Viktor Axelsen. If both get there. 

The Tall Man's attack, it's shuttle's version of a mic drop.

Here’s how the opening game panned out. A proper rollercoaster, that. So many momentum changes.

Image: BWF Match Center

With Chen at game point in the first game, there is a delay as both players try and catch their breaths. Once they are back slugging it out, Lakshya manages to win back one point. But he's only delaying the inevitable. Chen wins the point and the first game by hitting a thunderous smash! UNRETURNABLE! 

Chou Tien-chen wins game 1 by 21-19 margin against Lakshya Sen 

Shot quality in rallies is an aspect that commentators and coaches speak about a lot. At any given instance, are you picking the right shot and are you hitting it the way you want. And the general shot quality in this Lakshya vs CTC match has been superb so far. Both men have come to play alright.

INSANE DEFENCE FROM LAKSHYA!

Chou Tien-chen still wins the point. Chen is playing from the faster side and he's raining down the smashes. Lakshya returns everything, and is playing like a man who's life depends on this point. It kinda does, since the score is 18-17 in his favour. Finally, the cookie crumbles and Chen smashes to finish the point. He's caught up with the Indian at 18-18.

Lakshya Sen seems to have upped the pace of the game, He's claimed six games on the trot to go 17-15 into the lead. And what a time to be in the lead, with the finish line for the first game appearing. 

It's a slice-chop thrice this set to Sen's forecourt forehand before Chen sends it zinging down the line. 

Sen's response - slug-lifts and 3 body shots. For levelling 3 points.

15-15

Not sure I have seen CTC play with this much venom and attempts at deception so early and consistently in a match. This is some amazing strokemaking from him so far.

"Keep challenging him, even if there are long rallies. No hurry": That was what Lakshya Sen was told at the changeover by Prakash Padukone, who is sitting in his corner.

And Lakshya is doing just that, from 11-15 down, he has clambered up to 15-15 in the first game. 

Chou Tien Chen"s sedate pace on shots is depriving Sen of his usual snappy-whiz especially on forehand midcourt returns

Some exceptional control being shown here from both players, Lakshya, at one point, showed his range by first defending with grit in the face of a barrage of smashes from Chen. Then, when he got the chance, he ended the point with a smash! 

But for now, Chou Tien Chen is ahead by 11-9! 

As we mentioned before the match, Victoria Gao, CTC’s coach who is actually his physio, got a few points to do her signature / celebrations. An infectious character! CTC has said in the past about how he does the tactical planning for a match before hand and gives Victoria notes, that she keeps reiterating him during the breaks. It’s one of the most unique player-coach teams you will see in badminton.

Marvellous badminton from Lakshya Sen. He's gone ahead of his opponent with some agressive badminton. He's adjusted his lift lengths really well early on this game. 

Lakshya leading in the first game. but only narrowly. 

Game 1: Lakshya Sen 7-6 Chou Tien-chen

Chou keeping Lakshya guessing. Long rallies already at the start as we see the first six points beign played out. Chou picked the side he wanted to play from, Lakshya, surprisingly, chose to receive in the game. 

And as expected, Chou is rallying to force errors out of the rival.

 Game 1: Lakshya Sen 2-4 Chou Tien-chen

Lakshya Sen is taking on Chou Tien-chen in the quarter-finals. What kind of match to expect?

Read this dispatch from Vinayakk:

Lakshya has played Chou four times, and won one of those matches: at the All England Open in 2023, when he produced one of his more impressive performances that year before injuries and illnesses started to pull him down. In fact, in their previous four meetings, that is the only occasion when the match was decided in two games. Every other contest has gone the distance.

That sums up Chou, who is known for playing plenty of three-game matches on tour. It means Lakshya’s fitness will have to be at an optimum level because his opponent knows a thing or two about lasting the distance. Lakshya has already shown in Paris that he has a good handle on conditions, and will hope his pace variations can keep Chou under check. Obviously, the 12 years separating the two shuttlers could be a factor that helps Lakshya, who has been training hard on his endurance in the build-up to Paris.

Here's a look at the H2H:

#Paris2024 #Olympics #Badminton

If you're watching Chou Tien Chen for first time today, watch out for his "coaching" bench. Seated there will be Victoria Gao, who is actually his physio. And she celebrates almost every point that CTC wins like this /https://t.co/2DFWylTb8n pic.twitter.com/0b0BtYyJkk

— Vinayakk (@vinayakkm) August 2, 2024

A little more from Shivani Naik on Lakshya Sen's win against Jonatan Christie

Sen had overcome the 2-8 deficit, by forcing the pace in Christie’s face literally. The Indonesian was struggling to find precision on hitting corners on the backline, his radar off, his shuttle-control badly buffering. And then Sen was defending every shuttle like a whizzing dream. He vacuumed the breathing space Christie was trying to buy himself by slowing down the rallies. The Indian who had lost four times to Christie, chose the Olympics stage to ambush and evict him with finality.

Sen’s cross smashes are flat because he is not too tall, but they travel wickedly fast. Christie reads games well, knew his strong forehand was being pummeled, but could do nothing when peppered continuously.

Up next for Lakshya could well have been a familiar face. From 2018's junior batch, four youngsters have transitioned brilliantly to the senior circuit: Kunlavut Vitidsarn, Lakshya, Li Shi Feng and Kodai Naraoka. And the draw had pitted Lakshya on a collision course with Japan's Naraoka. Instead though, on Friday, the Indian will be up against Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei. From a potential Class of 2018 reunion, it's a meeting with a much older, cannier alumni.

They don't get any grittier than Chou. The 34-year-old has been a near-constant presence on the tour for years now, reaching as high as World No. 2 in 2022. In April 2023, before the Badminton Asia Championships, colorectal cancer was detected but fortunately enough, the required surgery was a minor procedure.

“I was training with Viktor (Axelsen), and before that I did a physical check. When they did a more detailed check, it was cancer,” Chou would reveal to the BWF in February this year after winning the Thailand Masters title. “When we got the news, it was a shock. I was playing the Asian Championships at the time. I always eat well and sleep well, so we don’t know why it happened.”

Like Lakshya, Chou too is a bronze medallist at the World Championships. Like Lakshya and India in 2022 (gold), Chou too was part of a special Thomas Cup run in 2024 (bronze), leading his country to uncharted territory. Like Lakshya, Chou too loves a good rally and is a tough man to break down in defence.

Coming up soon... Lakshya Sen vs Jonatan Christie in the men's singles badminton quarterfinal 

Read more here.

Paris 2024: As Lakshya Sen reaches quarterfinals, who is he facing next and what kind of match to expect?

Also we must wonder. Did India miss a trick by sticking with Ankita Bhakat for the mixed team event, despite having the option to swap with Bhajan Kaur? Ankita is a good archer, shot well in the ranking round so earned her place, yes. But she shot a 4 in the women's round and that is not the sort of the mistake you recover easily well from mentally. Sure every day is new and she shot well earlier today. But in some ways, it was also perhaps unfair to put her under the scanner once more. Bhajan Kaur shot brilliantly in the women's team and in the first two rounds of the individual event too. It might have been a harsh call on Ankita, but a Olympic medal doesn't come with easy decisions. Just food for thought. 

For now, India's last medal hopes are Bhajan and Deepika in the women's individual event.

Dhiraj Bommadevara's arrows today:

R16: 10, 9, 10, 9, 9, 9

QF: 10, 10, 9, 10, 9, 10, 10, 10

SF: 10, 10, 9, 9, 9, 8*, 9, 10

Bronze medal match: 10, 10, 10, 9, 9, 10, 9, 10

Really fine shooting except for that one mistake* in the Korea match. He shot so well in the individual event too. Must be gutted to return without a medal from Paris. 

Set 4: INDIA FINISH 4th. Oh dear. Ankita Bhakat will be haunted by a couple of her mistakes today. This was a match India had a great chance to win. And the first archery medal continues to elude India at the Olympics. Dhiraj Bommadevara will be gutted that he is going away from Paris without a medal after some wonderful shooting. 

Set 4: India still MUST WIN. And Ankita starts with a 8. That is a massive setback. 

SET 3: India are fighting back! Ankita started that set with a superb 10 and set the tone for them. All four arrows in the yellow zone. Casey is looking a bit nervous for USA and she drops a 7 with her first arrow. India get off the mark.

DECIDING FOURTH SET COMING UP.

INDIA: 10, 9, 9, 10

US: 10, 7, *8 = 9, 8

It's a must win set for India. Can't afford to draw this also. And Ankita starts with a 10, timely. 

Set 2: Oh boy! Ankita Bhakat starts the 2nd set with another 7. This is just pressure... she has been shooting already earlier today. Dhiraj keeps India in the hunt by Brady's stunning shots for two 10 at the exact same spot almost gives USA match points.

INDIA : 7, 10, 9, 9

USA: 10, 8, 10, 9

SET 1: Oh dear Ankita Bhakat shoots a 7 with her first arrow, a little weak as it dips into the red zone for 7. The Indians recovered to shoot THREE 10s but USA have wrapped up the set. 

INDIA : 7, 10, 10, 10 

USA: 10, 9, 9, 10

Here we go then, time for Ankit Bhakat and Dhiraj Bommadevara vs Brady Ellison and Casey Kaufhold 

--

Just as we built up Casey Kaufhold and Brady Ellison, they both each shoot an 8 in the 4th set! Germany have won this semifinal. 

INDIA VS USA FOR THE BRONZE MEDAL MATCH: 7.54 pm IST