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Young Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen suffered an inexplicable meltdown and missed out on an Olympic medal, going down in three games to Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia in the bronze play-off at the Paris Games Monday.
A fired-up Sen was unstoppable in the beginning but a nine-point streak from Lee in the second game changed the complexion of the match as the World No 7 registered a 13-21, 21-16, 21-11 win in a 71-minute clash to secure the bronze.
"I had my chances in the second set and could have definitely done better. But credit to him, he played a really good game. I think at the moment I'm just not able to think right now," a crestfallen Sen said after the match.
"I came well prepared for this match as well. It has been quite a tough week overall. But yeah, the fatigue kept on building. But I mean, I was ready to give my 100 per cent in this match."
Sen, who needed medical attention multiple times for a injured right arm, looked indomitable in the first 30 minutes and took took the first game 21-13.
But once Lee gathered himself after the first game loss and trailing 3-8 in second, the Indian did not seem to have a plan 'B'.
His loss means that it would be the first time in 12 years that India will return from the Olympics without a badminton medal.
Only Saina Nehwal (2012) and PV Sindhu (2016, 2021) have won Olympic medals for India at the biggest sporting stage with the latter's silver in Rio being the best performance.
The medal-favourite men's doubles pair of Satwaiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty had also returned empty-handed as India's badminton campaign ended on a disappointing note.
A key member of the Indian badminton team and a part of the historic Thomas Cup winning squad, Sen was gunning to become India's first male shuttler to win an Olympic medal.
The match began with a long rally but Sen hit top gear early. The Indian largely played on the backhand side of his rival, logging easy points with no fight from Lee.
The calculated drop shots set up easy points for Sen as he drew his rival on the forecourt. Even the Malaysian tried to play on backhand of Sen but the India was hardly perturbed and lead 11-6 at the break.
Lee was defensive in his approach as he played catch up to erase the deficit which was increasing with each shot.
The only smart play by the Malaysian was when he jumped for an overhead smash but dropped the shuttle forward, catching Sen wrong footed and then came up with a winner in open court.
Sen closed the first game when he hit a lightning fast backhand and Lee's return sailed over the baseline.
The second game also started on a similar note as in no time, Sen zoomed to a 8-3 lead after peppering Lee on his backhand.
Sen seemed to be pulling away but then there was a twist in the tale. The Indian went on to lose nine straight points, allowing the Malaysian to fightback into the contest.
There were returns, a body smash and most importantly intent from Lee who began moving the Indian on both sides of the court.
From 3-8, the Malaysian made it 12-8 and ran away with the game, forcing a decider.
Lee made a powerful start to the game with ferocious smashes and continued with the strategy to run away with the game and match as Sen's attack completely fell apart.
Even when Sen was in an advantageous position at 2-7 to kill the point, he could not with Lee making incredible recovery and movement with his reflexes and powerful shots.
A commanding 9-4 lead and momentum on his side, Lee kept going hard at Sen, who was struggling to return the smashing returns. It ended in the same fashion, as Lee sent a body smash which the Indian could not return.
Sen needed to replace his bandage, which covered an injury, thrice during the match, leading to multiple stoppages in play.
The Indian said it affected his momentum.
"In between the points the blood was on the floor so they had to wipe it. Sometimes, I was losing the momentum of just having a break in the game and then coming again and trying to refocus on the match. But overall the hand is okay," he said.