Lakshya Sen was India’s best-performing badminton star at the Paris Olympics 2024. He became the first Indian male shuttler to enter the semi-final of an Olympics. However, he missed the medal by a whisker. He went down to Viktor Axelsen in the semi-final and then also lost the bronze medal match to Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia. Those two results broke a billion hearts who were rooting for the rising star.. “After the match (semi-finals), I was devastated. It’s going to hurt for a while that I couldn’t give India the medal at this Olympics. I knew I was going to face Viktor Axelsen in the match and the way I had prepared, things were fine. Overall, I had the right tactics. I had the right approach. At the crucial stages I could have been a little more clinical. Now that I sit back and think, I know there are some things that I could have done better. Everything was fine, but towards the end, I wasn’t able to get there,” Lakshya said in a chat with Humans of Bombay.

After his loss in the bronze medal match, Prakash Padukone said that it was high time  for Indian players to deliver, especially with the support that everybody received from all quarters. 

“Everyone was disappointed, I know where he came from. I respect what he says. That has helped me a lot. Vimal sir and Prakash sir talked to me after the match. They told me there were a lot of things that I did right, but there were things which I could have done better,” he said.  

Lakshya added that Deepika Padukone, daughter of Prakash Padukone, called him up after the  loss.

“They have been really supportive. Even after the bronze medal match, she called me and said ‘It’s fine; don’t worry. You did good.’ Prakash sir has been like a mentor and father figure to me. It’s always nice to talk to them if I want any advice or want to talk to them freely,” he said.