On Wednesday, July 31, Lakshya Sen pulled off a stunning upset by defeating world No. 4 and third seed Jonatan Christie 21-18 and 21-12 to advance to the round of 16 in the Paris Olympics. This is possibly the biggest victory of Lakshya’s career, as Christie was expected to defeat him and proceed to the round of 16.
Lakshya overcame Christie in just 50 minutes
Lakshya took 50 minutes to secure a surprising victory over the 2018 Asian Games gold medalist. The result would send shockwaves through the badminton community, as Jonatan was one of the favourites to medal in the Paris Games.
Also read: Paris Olympics: PV Sindhu beats Kristin Kuuba to enter Round of 16
Lakshya Sen became the first Indian men’s singles shuttler to get to the knockout stage of the Olympics since Kidambi Srikanth in the 2016 Rio Games. Sai Praneeth, India’s lone contender in men’s singles in Tokyo, failed to go beyond the group stage.
Earlier today, PV Sindhu advanced to the Round of 16 in men’s singles after winning Group M, defeating Estonia’s Kristin Kuuba 21-5, 21-10 in less than an hour.
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Lakshya had a 1-4 win-loss record against Christie before the match
Lakshya Sen entered the match against Jonatan Christie with a 1-4 head-to-head record. Lakshya had lost two meetings to the Indonesian earlier this year, including the All England Open semi-finals in Birmingham. Despite the odds being stacked against him, the Indian badminton player rose to the occasion and won the challenge.
Lakshya won the toss and elected to receive on the slower side of court
Lakshya Sen won the toss and decided to receive on the slower side of the court, but things did not go as planned as Jonatan Christie raced to a 5-0 lead, followed by an 8-2 advantage.
Lakshya’s skill to course correct was on full display as the former All England Open finalist avoided big lifts and put Christie under pressure with flat rallies.
In a matchup between two of the tour’s fastest players, Lakshya’s aggressive approach paid off.
