Paris Olympics 2024: A prominent Indian athlete has faced a major setback after winning their first-round match. The Badminton World Federation (BWF) has declared the player’s victory invalid. As a result, this top shuttler will now have to replay their group stage match.

Lakshya Sen, competing in the men’s singles category, started his campaign strongly with a win in his first group stage match against Guatemala’s Kevin Cordon, with scores of 21-8 and 22-20.

During the game, Lakshya Sen’s opponent, Kevin Cordon, injured his elbow. Because of this injury, the Guatemalan player has had to withdraw from the Paris Olympics 2024. As a result, his remaining two group-stage matches will not be played.

🇮🇳🚨 𝗧𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗯𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗟𝗮𝗸𝘀𝗵𝘆𝗮! Kevin Cordon withdraws from #Paris2024 due to an elbow injury, virtually “deleting” Lakshya Sen’s victory over him.

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🏸 The deletion means that Lakshya’s win over Kevin Cordon won’t count towards the standings and also means that… pic.twitter.com/wvEusDVlIP

— India at Paris 2024 Olympics (@sportwalkmedia) July 28, 2024

Cordon’s injury has also led to his first match being ‘deleted’ from the records. According to the General Competition regulations of the Badminton World Federation (BWF), when a player withdraws during the group stages, all their past and future matches are nullified. As a result, Lakshya Sen’s hard-fought win, which initially earned him 1 point, no longer counts, leaving his points tally at 0. The group has now been reduced from four players to three.

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Sen’s Path to Advancement

Lakshya Sen’s chances at the Paris Olympics 2024 now rely on his last two Group L matches against Joel Caraggi of Belgium on July 29 and Jonatan Christie of Indonesia on July 30. To move on to the next round, Sen needs to win both matches to finish at the top of his group.

Lakshya Sen is competing in his first Olympic Games and is one of the top young talents in Indian badminton. He is the current Commonwealth Games gold medallist in men’s singles and won a bronze medal at the World Championships. He also helped India win the Thomas Cup in 2022 and is one of just four Indian men to reach the final of the All-England Open.

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