Paris 2024 Olympics: Why did Lakshya Sen protest during his quarterfinal match against Chou Tien Chen?

Lakshya Sen protested to the chair umpire during his quarterfinal match due to discrepency over a hawk eye replay.

India’s Lakshysa Sen in action during the men’s singles Round of 16 match against HS Prannoy | Photo Credit: ANI

India shuttler Lakshya Sen protested to the chair umpire over a hawkeye review during his quarterfinal match against Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien Chen at the Paris Olympics on Friday.

With the score tied at 7-7 in the second game, Lakshya let go of a shot from Chen, thinking it will land outside the back gallery. The line judge, however, ruled that the shuttle landed inside the court.

The Indian challenged the call and the decision went in favour of the Taipei shuttler. However, Lakshya was unhappy with the decision since the hawkeye replay was not shown on the big screen inside the stadium.

He went to the chair umpire asking for the replay to be shown on the big screen. The umpire could be heard on the official broadcast saying: “I have the replay on my screen; we will move ahead with the match.” Lakshya even asked the service umpire to intervene but could not get a call in his favour.

He eventually went on to win the game 21-15 to draw level after going down 21-19 in the opener.

Lakshya turned the contest around and secured a win after taking the final game 21-12. He became the first male Indian badminton player to qualify for the semifinals at the Olympics.