‘Making excuses is where the country will win gold medal’: Sunil Gavaskar slams Lakshya Sen after Paris Olympics exit

Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar slammed Lakshya Sen after he could not bring a medal in the Paris Olympics. Sen, 22, became the first ever Indian shuttler to qualify for the Men’s singles semifinals of the Olympics.

In the semifinal clash, Sen had three game points against Viktor Axelsen at 20-17 but he could not grab a single one of them and lost the opening set. Sen once again had a 7-0 advantage in the second game but squandered it as he could only win five out of the next 20 points.

In the Bronze medal match against Malaysia’s Lee Zee Jia, Sen won the opening game and had a 8-3 lead in the second game. But once again, Sen veered off the track and lost the match to return empty-handed.

After his loss, Sen’s coach Prakash Padukone said that it is time for players to take onus for their performances as the government and federation are doing enough for them.

“Making excuses is where our country will win gold medals every single time, so the debate around his assessment was more about that than looking without tinted glasses at what he said.”

“As he (Sen) came to the cusp of an Olympic medal, Prakash was by the courtside along with the hard-working and indefatigable Vimal Kumar to see the fulfillment of not just Lakshya’s dream but also that of the entire community of Indian badminton lovers,” Gavaskar wrote in his piece for Sportstar.

Gavaskar reckons the youngster could not grab the crucial points as he was was casual and it led to his downfall.

“He, Vimal Kumar, the BAI, and the government’s TOPS had done everything possible, but when it came to the crunch, Lakshya was, in the famous words of the Indian cricket team captain (Rohit Sharma), ‘garden mein ghoomne wala.’”

The Little Master also feels that Lakshya Sen should try to build on his focus and concentration to get the best out of himself.

“Concentration and focus are things that no coach or trainer can ever teach. It can be developed over the years by the athlete by observing other champions and having an inner resolve, but there’s no specific program for it. Yes, mind trainers are around, but they can only do so much and not more. It’s got to be within the athlete,” Gavaskar wrote.