In a historic first, Lakshya Sen and H.S Prannoy will face off in an all-Indian clash in the Olympic badminton knockout stage. Lakshya defeated third seed and medal favourite Jonatan Christie in the group stages, while Prannoy had to battle for three games to overcome Le Duc Phat, the 70th-ranked player from Vietnam.
A victory for either of the Indian players will see them face the fifth seed Kodai Naraoka or 12th seed Chou Tien Chen in the quarterfinals.
Lakshya and Prannoy are both in contention to win a first men’s medal at the Olympics for Indian badminton.
India also has representation in the round of 16 in the women’s singles and men’s doubles disciplines with two-time Olympic medallist P.V. Sindhu and the duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty sealing progression from the group stages.
Head-to-Head Record
The head-to-head record between Lakshya Sen and HS Prannoy is 4-3 in favour of Lakshya.
Their most recent encounter was at the India Open in January 2023, where Lakshya won 21-14, 21-15.