PARIS: Ace India shuttler Lakshya Sen defeated Guatemala’s Kevin Cordon 21-8, 22-20 in the Group L match of the ongoing Paris Olympics on Saturday.
Lakshya won in straight sets with the match lasting 42 minutes.
The Indian shuttler got off to a flying start after winning the first game 21-8 in 14 minutes. Cordon pulled things back, taking a commanding lead in the second and had four game points. However, the 22-year-old Indian turned things around by winning six points in a row to wrap up the game and match.
Lakshya Sen will take on Belgium’s Julien Carraggi on July 29.
The Indian team has 117 athletes and they will be competing in 16 disciplines. The Olympics started on July 26 and will conclude on August 11. India will look to outdo its tally of seven medals from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which included a gold, two silver, and four bronze medals.
Earlier on Saturday, ace India shooter Manu Bhaker finished third in the qualification round of Women’s 10 Metre Air Pistol to qualify for the final. Rhythm Sangwan failed to make her place in the final after finishing in 15th place in the qualification round.
Manu Bhaker displayed a stunning performance in the qualification round. In the first two series, Manu ended with 97 points. In the third series, the 22-year-old bagged 98 points. In the final three series, she sealed 96 points to finish in third place with a total of 580-27x.
Rhythm ended with a total of 573-14x points.
Indian shooters Sarabjot Singh and Arjun Cheema also failed to make it to the final round of the men’s 10 m air pistol competition.
Cheema (18th spot with 574-17x points) and Sarabjot (9th spot with 577-16x points) failed to make it to the final eight who qualified for the medal round. (ANI)