‘Underdog’ Lakshya can play more freely, says Vimal Kumar

Lakshya Sen. Pic/AFP

The presence of some established foes notwithstanding, India shuttler Lakshya Sen has got a "fair" draw in his debut Olympics, according to his coach Vimal Kumar, who expects him to play freely in Paris thanks to his "underdog" status and some technical improvements in his game.

World No. 19 Sen's path to a medal has multiple hurdles as he will need to get past familiar Indonesian nemesis Jonatan Christie, last Olympics' surprise semi-finalist Kevin Cordon from Guatemala, and Julian Carraggi from Belgium in Group L. "I think it [the draw] is very fair, a very reasonable draw for him.
Lakshya has nothing to lose. He will be the underdog and can play more freely," Vimal, a former India coach, told PTI from Marseille, France, where Sen is currently training for the Paris Olympics. "A couple of times, he has lost to Jonathan Christie in close matches. It's a 50-50 match," he asserted.

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Vimal said Sen has worked on his front-court alertness and closing stage composure. The 22-year-old would be aiming to become the first Indian male shuttler to finish on the Olympic podium.

India's previous badminton medals at the Games have been clinched by Saina Nehwal (bronze in 2012) and P V Sindhu (silver in 2016 and bronze in 2020).

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