While pv sindhu

World Champion Ratchanok Intanon: Lakshya Sen made history at the Olympic Games here, becoming the first Indian male shuttler to reach the semifinals in men's singles badminton competition here on Friday. While PV Sindhu had bagged two medals in the Olympic Games and Saina Nehwal had claimed a bronze in the 2012 edition in London, no Indian male player had reached the medal rounds in the Olympics.

Sen achieved that feat with a hard-fought victory over Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei 19-21, 21-15, 21-12 in a 76-minute encounter in the men's singles quarterfinals on Friday.

Sen, the lone Indian shuttler still in the fray in the Paris Olympics, lost the first game after the Taipei player opened up a 5-2 lead. Though the Indian star levelled scores at 5-5, his rival continued to maintain the upper hand and opened up a 14-9 lead, Sen again fought back to seven points in a row to take a 17-15 lead. However, Chen could not be denied, and he went on to win the game 21-19.