Beaten and bitten: Lakshya Sen has drawn harsh criticism from Indian badminton legend Prakash Padukone. — AP
MALAYSIAN singles player Lee Zii Jia has triggered a huge row in India, but it is no fault of his. His bronze medal playoff win over Lakhsya Sen has divided Indians.
Former singles ace Prakash Padukone has harshly criticised Lakshya over the defeat but Indian’s women’s doubles international Ashwini Ponnappa has sprung to the young player’s defence and hit back at the former All-England champion.
Lakshya, 22, started well in the semi-finals but had no answer to Zii Jia’s fightback as the Malaysian secured the bronze medal with a 13-21, 21-16, 21-11 win.
Prakash was not all pleased.
“After Milkha Singh in 1964 and P.T. Usha (1984), we have had so many fourth place finishes. I think that it’s high time the players take responsibility,” Prakash told the Indian media.
“At least in this Olympics and the previous one, you cannot hold the federations and government responsible for the results. They have all done whatever they can. Ultimately, the responsibility is on the players to go and deliver when it matters the most.
“He (Laskhya) could have definitely gotten a medal. But to have come this far, to have taken the lead... I know he is young, but he cannot give this as an excuse. Take the responsibility and work harder,” said Prakash who, with Vimal Kumar, had coached Lakshya in Bangalore.
Ashwini retorted in her Instagram post that she was disappointed to see a player being taken to task after a failure without the responsibility being shared by coaches.
“If a player wins, everyone jumps on the bandwagon to take credit, and if they lose, it’s just the player’s fault?!” Ashwini questioned in an Instagram post.
“Why aren’t coaches held responsible for lack of preparation and getting the player ready? They are the first ones to take credit for wins; why not take responsibility for their players’ losses as well?
“At the end of the day, winning is a team effort and losing is also the team’s responsibility. You can’t suddenly push the player under the bus and blame it all on the player,” she said.
World No. 16 Lakshya had produced some good results before his defeat to Zii Jia. He upset Indonesian title contender and world No. 5 Jonatan Christie, outplayed Taiwan veteran Chou Tien-chen (No. 10) in the quarter-finals before losing to eventual champion Viktor Axelsen, the second player after Lin Dan of China to defend the men’s singles crown, in the last four.
In the bronze medal playoff, Lakshya had held the upper hand but Zii Jia’s remarkable fightback ruined things for him.
The 34-year-old Ashwini, who partnered Tanisha Crasto in the women’s doubles, also lost in the group stages in her last Olympics but is expected to continue playing on the international stage.
Meanwhile, former Olympic shooting gold medallist Abhinav Bindra and top Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh, who happens to be Prakash’s son-in-law, have come in support of Lakshya.
They pointed out that Lakshya had been affected by health issues since the beginning of 2023 and was the last player to automatically qualify for the Olympics by finishing in the top 16 at the end of qualifying in April.
Lakshya is also the first Indian to reach the semi-finals stage in the highly competitive men’s singles in Paris. He should be in his prime at the age of 26 in the 2028 Los Angeles Games to launch another assault on an Olympics medal.
