Lakshya Sen gets support from Abhinav Bindra in ‘incredible’ message after Padukone’s rant: ‘This isn’t the time to…’

Amid the rising support over Prakash Padukone’s statement, India’s lone Olympic gold medalist in shooting Abhinav Bindra, came in support of Lakshya Sen. The Indian contingent of more than 100 athletes arrived in Paris less than a fortnight back with the aim to match or even beat their best-ever feat of seven medals claimed at the Tokyo Games three years back. On the 10th day of the competition, Lakshya Sen, who became the first Indian male shuttler to make the semis in singles badminton, had the chance to win a fourth medal for the country, and so did the skeet mixed team pair of Maheshwari Chauhan and Anant Naruka, both in their respective bronze-medal face-offs. However, it ended in a heartbreak for India, with both medal chances lost. Badminton legend Prakash Padukone, in particular, was not impressed with the missed opportunity, especially from Lakshya, who won the opening game against Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia, before conceding the next two to lose the opportunity to become the first Indian male shuttler to win a medal the Games. With Lakshya’s loss, India’s badminton contingent failed to clinch a single medal at the Olympics for the first time since 2008. Earlier last week, double-Olympic medallist PV Sindhu incurred a heartbreaking exit in the pre-quarters, while the pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, the Asian Games champions, who were touted for the 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. “… I am a little disappointed that we couldn’t get one medal from badminton,” Prakash Padukone told reporters in Paris on Monday. “We were contenders for 3 medals. So, at least, one I would have been happy. I am personally disappointed. But, having said that, this 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. “All these years we could say there were not enough facilities or encouragement. But, I think this time, it’s only better. Especially, the top 30 players, I am not just talking about badminton. Across all sports, the top 30-40 who had chances of winning medals, were given whatever they wanted. Sometimes, even if they were unreasonable demands, they have been met,” he added.