Arguably, you could call it the best match of Lakshya Sen’s fledgling career. The feat of delivering the coup de grace to the reigning All England and Asian badminton champion, Jonatan Christie of Indonesia, by a 21-18, 21-12 scoreline in a high-pressure, do-or-die Group L clash of the Paris Olympics could hardly be ranked among the 22-year-old Indian’s run-of-the-mill victories.

Indonesian outplayed

The third seeded Christie, ranked fourth in the world and strongly favoured to bag a medal at these Games, was not just knocked out of the reckoning by a rival who trailed him 1-4 in career meetings, having beaten him just once — as long back as 2020. The Indonesian’s challenge was decimated by a determined, highly focused opponent who believed in his own abilities, honed to a fine point by his illustrious coaches, Prakash Padukone and Vimal Kumar.