India, Aug. 6 -- India ended their badminton campaign without a single medal at the Olympics for the first time since 2008. Lakshya Sen, who became the first Indian male shuttler to make the semis in the singles category at the Games, came closest from the seven-member contingent to securing a medal at the Paris Olympics 2024. He even stood a game away from clinching what could have been a historic bronze in the face-off against Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia. But he conceded the match in the next two games to let go of the golden opportunity.Mentor and badminton legend Prakash Padukone harshly criticised Lakshya after the defeat. In an explosive interaction with the media on Monday, Padukone lashed out at the entire badminton contingent, asking them to take responsibility for the poor result. "his time, the government, the SAI and the foundations, the TOPs, everybody have done their bit. So, I have nothing against it... I don't think anybody could have done anything more than what the government has done, the Sports Ministry, TOPs has done. It's high time the players also need to take some responsibility," he said.It was for the second time in two days that Lakshya lost from a position of making a considerable difference in a match. Earlier on Sunday, in the semifinal clash against eventual gold medallist Viktor Axelsen, the Indian shuttler roared to a seven-point lead in the second game after a closely fought 20-22 first game.

But the defending champion bounced back in style to outlast the Indian in the second game to make the gold-medal round.Speaking to RevSportz, Lakshya's coach, Vimal Kumar, was left shocked at his performance as he reckoned that he was well in contention for any of three medals at the Paris Olympics and he now seeks an "honest answer" from the Indian shuttler after he has settled down from his disappointment."Personally for me it is very tough to digest the fact that Lakshya couldn't get a medal. Here it could have been any,Gold,Silver or Bronze and he was that close to all.He showed great temperament and as a coach I really enjoyed seeing him displaying that upto the medal contention stage. I am not able to figure out what went wrong in his head in the last 2 days.We can say many things from outside but it is him who has to put everything together when situation warrants. I am of the opinion that Lakshya,will give me a honest feedback after he settles down from his disappointment. He is a clever boy and he is tough. I want everyone to respect that fact," he said.Earlier last week, double Olympic-medallist PV Sindhu was knocked out in the round of 16, while the men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who were India's best bet for an elusive gold, were stunned in the quarters. HS Prannoy, on the other hand, was defeated by Lakshya in the round of 16 and the women's doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto suffered a group-stage exit.For any query with respect to this article or any other content requirement.

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