Lakshya Sen faced a tough defeat in the bronze medal match at the Paris Olympics men’s singles badminton. Despite the setback, Ranveer Singh has shown his support for the 22-year-old, who made history as the first Indian male shuttler to reach the Olympic semi-finals in men’s badminton. Ranveer praised Lakshya’s efforts and encouraged him to “fight another day.” But interestingly, Badminton legend and coach, Prakash Padukone, Deepika Padukone’s father and Ranveer Singh’s father-in-law, had a different take on it. Lakshya faced Lee Zii Jia in the bronze-medal match but was defeated with a score of 13-21, 21-16, 21-11.
Ranveer was all praise for the young shuttler and wrote, “What a player! What endurance, what agility, what a range of shots, what focus, what grit, what smarts. Scintillating badminton on display! Its difficult to encapsulate just how brilliant he’s been at the Olympics. Missed out narrowly in a game of extremely small margins. But he’s only 22 and he is just getting started.”
On the other hand, Prakash Padukone, who mentored Sen throughout the Olympics, took to reporters to expound on the need for athletes to take the fall for their shortcomings, especially in a fourth place finish, and to not blame their federations for negligence. “The players need to introspect, and not just keep asking for more from the federations. They need to ask themselves whether they are working hard enough, because all of these players have their own physios and all the facilities. I don’t think any other country, including the US, has so many facilities,” he sternly said.
#WATCH | Paris, France: On Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen losing the bronze medal match to Malaysia's Zii Jia Lee in Badminton Men's singles at Paris Olympics, former Badminton player Prakash Padukone says, "He played well. I am a little disappointed as he could not finish it.… pic.twitter.com/BnaWQTHz0g— ANI (@ANI) August 5, 2024
Prakash Padukone, a trailblazer in Indian badminton, gained national attention by winning the Indian National Senior Championships at 16. His crowning achievement came in 1980 when he became the first Indian to win the All England Open, propelling him to World No. 1. He continued to excel with victories in the Danish and Swedish Opens and later focused on coaching and developing future talent in India.
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