After Vinesh Phogat, India never missed a bigger chance to win a medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics than Lakshya Sen missed out on a podium finish. India were weakened by six fourth-place finishes at the Paris Games, with Arjun Babuta and Mirabai Chanu narrowly missing out on the bronze medal. But nothing was more painful than that for Lakshya, who – albeit unluckily – missed out on a chance at gold and then a chance at bronze, losing to Viktor Axelsen in the semifinals and then to Lee Zii Jia in the bronze medal match.

Lakshya was devastated by the result, which ended India’s hopes of an Olympic medal in Paris. While Lakshya’s words were hard to come out of his mouth, his coach Prakash Padukone pulled no punches and, in a brutal reality check, asked the badminton players, including 22-year-old Lakshya, to take more responsibility. As if that wasn’t enough to highlight Padukone’s stern approach, the fact that he took Lakshya’s phone during the Olympics and kept it with him only reinforces that belief.

“During the Games, Prakash Sir took away my phone. He said I will not get it back until the Games are over,” Lakshya told Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who received the Indian Olympic team on Thursday, August 15, 2024.

Prime Minister Modi quickly responded, “If Prakash Sir is so strict, I will send him next time too.”

Lakshya was unlucky after the first game, as his win against Kevin Cordon was “cancelled” after the Guatemalan badminton player had to pull out due to injury. From there, it was still an amazing performance, beating Julien Carraggi, Jonatan Christie, HS Prannoy and Chou Tien-Chen en route to the semifinals. With PV Sindhu and Satwik-Chirag out, Lakshya was India’s best and last hope for a medal in badminton. Lakshya seemed in good shape for a place in the final before he lost momentum – wasting three game points in the first game and a 7-0 lead in the second – and lost to Axelsen in a set.

How Lakshya lost the thread

A day later, with bronze hopes still alive, Lakshya seemed on course, winning the first game. But when he lost nine points in a row in the second game, the door opened for Lee, and he broke it by scoring a stunning come-from-behind victory. Against an opponent Lakshya had a 4-1 lead against before the competition, Lee overcame a one-game deficit, won the next two and secured the victory.

And with that, India’s 12-year streak of winning at least one medal at the Olympics was broken – which began with Saina Nehwal’s bronze in London and continued with PV Sindhu’s silver and bronze in Rio and Tokyo. But Lakshya took heart from the fact that someone like Axelsen herself predicted that the Indian would be a strong contender for a gold medal at the Los Angeles Olympics in four years’ time.

“It was a good learning experience for me. It was also heartbreaking that I was so close to winning a medal. But I will make sure that I do well in the future,” he added.