Updated July 29, 2024, 07:18 IST
Lakshya Sen is one of India’s finest badminton players competing in the Paris Olympics. He started his campaign in style, winning his first match against Guatemala’s Kevin Cordon in straight sets. Unfortunately, the match has been officially cancelled due to an injury to Cordon, meaning Lakshya will lose any points he may have earned.
Explained: Why Lakshya Sen’s win in the opening match of the Paris 2024 Olympics was ‘deleted’
Key highlights
Lakshya Sen defeated Kevin Cordon in her opening match of the Paris Olympics 2024. However, the match has been officially ‘deleted’, meaning that Lakshya has lost the points he earned for winning the match.
Badminton is one of the sports where India can expect to win many medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics. One of the most promising contenders for the national team is ace shutout Lakshya Sen, who will compete in the men’s singles. Sen recorded a stunning win in his first match of the group stage, defeating Guatemala’s Kevin Cordon in straight sets (21-8, 22-20). Unfortunately, the win was declared invalid and the match was “deleted.”
During the match, Lakshya Sen’s opponent Kevin Cordon sustained an elbow injury, which led to the Guatemalan shuttler withdrawing from the Paris Olympics 2024. This means that the remaining two matches of the group stage will not be played.
However, due to Cordon’s injury, his first match was “deleted” from the record books. This is because, according to the Badminton World Federation (BWF) General Competition Rules, if a player withdraws from the tournament during the group stage, all the matches he has played so far and will play in the future are declared “deleted”. This means that Lakshya Sen’s hard-earned 1 point win will not be counted and his points total will be 0. The group was changed from a 4-player group to a 3-player group.
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Lakshya Sen’s fate at the Paris 2024 Olympics hinges on his two remaining matches in Group L against Belgium’s Joel Callaghani and Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie on July 29 and 30 respectively. Lakshya needs to win these two remaining matches to top the group and secure a place in the next round of the Paris Olympics.
This also means that while Karagi and Christie will play two matches each, only Lakshya Sen will play an extra match from his group. Jonatan Christie is currently top of the group after beating Karagi and it will be an uphill task for Lakshya to beat the Indonesian, who is third seeded and one of the favourites for the gold medal.
Lakshya Sen will be playing in his first Olympic Games. He is currently one of the brightest young stars in Indian badminton. He is a Commonwealth Games cash medallist in the men’s singles category and a World Championship bronze medallist. He was part of the historic Indian team that won the Thomas Cup in 2022 and is also one of four Indian men to have reached the final of the All England Open.