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Lakshya Sen is set to face Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia in the bronze medal match today (August 5) at the Paris Olympics. He lost to reigning Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark 20-22 and 14-21 and will now be aiming for a historic bronze at the Games. He will be the first male badminton player to win a medal at the Olympics and only the third Indian player to do so after PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal.
Having said that, it will not be easy for him to secure bronze either with Lee Zii Jia ranked seventh in the world. But then, Lakshya is already on a heroic run at the Olympics defying odds since the group stage clash against Jonatan Christie. Despite the loss, his game against Viktor was exceptional with the latter also lauding the youngster and even saying that Lakshya Sen will be one of the favourites to win the gold medal at the 2028 Olympic Games.
Lakshya had three game points against Axelsen in the first set and was leading 7-0 in the second before the gold medallist at the Tokyo Olympics made a stunning comeback to win both sets and qualify for the final.
Meanwhile, India's 22-year-old youngster will be confident going into the bronze medal match thanks to his strong head-to-head record against Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia. The two shuttlers have faced each other in a total of five matches so far in their career and Lakshya has won four times while Lee has emerged victorious only once.
They last locked horns in March this year at the All England Open and Sen won the battle 20-22, 21-16 and 21-19. Lee's last and only win over Lakshya came in December 2022 at the BWF Thomas and Uber Cup Finals 23-21, 21-9.
Lakshya Sen vs Lee Zii Jia head-to-head record ahead of the bronze medal match at the Paris Olympics
Date | Tournament | Player 1 | Player 2 | Winner |
March 15, 2024 | All England Open Badminton Championships 2024 | Lakshya Sen | Lee Zii Jia | Lakshya Sen |
June 14, 2023 | Indonesia Open 2023 | Lakshya Sen | Lee Zii Jia | Lakshya Sen |
May 12, 2022 | BWF Thomas and Uber Cup Finals 2022 | Lakshya Sen | Lee Zii Jia | Lee Zii Jia |
March 19, 2022 | All England Open Badminton Championships 2022 | Lakshya Sen | Lee Zii Jia | Lakshya Sen |
November 27, 2016 | Sats India International Series 2016 | Lakshya Sen | Lee Zii Jia | Lakshya Sen |