Lakshya's sensational start

Lakshya Sen returns to Belgium’s Julien Carraggi yesterday. Pic/AFP

Forced to make a fresh start after his opening win was wiped off the record books, unfazed Indian ace Lakshya Sen stamped his class to defeat Julien Carraggi of Belgium in straight games in their men's singles group match of the Olympic Games' badminton competition here on Monday.

The 22-year-old Sen, who is making his Olympic 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 semi-finalist, in the opening Group ‘L' match on Saturday was "deleted" after his Guatemalan opponent pulled out due to a left elbow injury.

Sen, a gold medallist at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and bronze winner at the 2021 World Championships, will face third seed and World No. 3 and reigning Asian champion Jonatan Christie of Indonesia in his final group match on Wednesday.

Coming back strongly

Sen didn't make the best of starts on Monday and was trailing in the first game against his lower-ranked opponent. But he came out unscathed, thanks to his tenacity.

Ranked 18th in the world, Sen was 8-11 behind in the first change of ends and the gap widened to 8-12.

But from there on, the Indian youngster roared back and levelled the score at 18-18 with the help of some fine smashes.

Sen was up 19-18 before Carraggi, ranked 52nd in the world, made it 19-19. But Sen held his nerves to win the next two points and pocket the first game.

"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," Sen said later.

Also Read: Manu Bhaker rescues India from medal oblivion…at last!

No game for Satwik-Chirag

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty's men's doubles Group ‘C' clash was cancelled following the withdrawal of German player Mark Lamsfuss due to injury. The Indian pair were scheduled to meet the German duo of Lamsfuss and Marvin Seidel on Monday.

Ponnappa-Crasto lose again

Meanwhile, Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto were staring at an early exit after suffering their second group stage defeat in the women's doubles. The Indians went down 11-21, 12-21 to the No. 4 Japanese duo of Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida.

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