NEW DELHI: Indian Badminton star Lakshya Sen secured his first victory in the Paris Olympics men’s singles Group L match, defeating Julien Carraggi of Belgium in straight games. Held on Monday, the encounter witnessed Sen win 21-19, 21-14 in 43 minutes.
Sen’s initial victory against Kevin Cordon was voided after the Guatemalan player withdrew from the competition due to an elbow injury.
Sen will now face reigning Asian champion Jonatan Christie in his final group match on Wednesday, a match that will determine which player advances to the pre-quarters.
Against Carraggi, Sen faced initial difficulty, trailing 8-11 at the first change of ends. He rallied to level the score at 18-18 and ultimately secured the first game. Sen attributed his win to his focus on retrieving shots and capitalizing on opportunities.

The second game saw Sen dominate, maintaining a consistent lead and concluding the match with a score of 21-14.
Sen addressed the cancellation of his first match, stating that he treated it as practice and is now solely focused on his next opponent.
“It was a bit hard to find my rhythm in the first game. But 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. Lovely to play in front of such a packed crowd especially a lot of Indian crowd who came to support me,” Sen said, as quoted by PTI.
“I just took it as a practice match, now it is time for me to just focus on one match at a time. I will rest, recover and try to be at my best against Christie. I saw the news yesterday and there is nothing we could do. I wish him a speedy recovery and hopefully he gets back soon. Other than that, I am really focussed on the next game,” he added.