India's star shuttler Lakshya Sen revealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that Prakash Padukone, who was his coach at the Paris Olympics 2024, took his phone away during his stint at the quadrennial event. PM Modi hosted the Indian contingent and felicitated them at his residence in New Delhi on Thursday, where Lakshya also mentioned that he was not aware of his hype on social media as he was busy playing the matches.
Prakash Padukone was the head coach of the Indian badminton team at the quadrennial event and has since then made an image of being a strict coach. PM Modi is seen asking Lakshya about his popularity and his increased fan following on social media, to this Lakshya said that he was unaware of it due to Prakash Padukone's strictness.
"Prakash Sir had taken away from my phone during the matches and said that I would only get it back after them. But yes, I got a lot of support. I would want to say that this (Paris Olympics) was a good learning experience for me. It was also a little heartbreaking that I missed out even after coming so close. I will try my best next time," Lakshya Sen was heard as saying this to PM Modi.
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Lakshya was praised for his brilliant campaign both by his fans and also from his semifinal opponent Viktor Axelsen but he missed out on winning a medal at the quadrennial event. Padukone didn't hesitate to express his frustration towards Lakshya for not winning the medal and also talked about how the athletes should also take responsibility.
The Indian badminton team entered the Paris Olympics 2024 to clinch more medals. The men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Renkireddy and Chirag Shetty were supposed to win the gold medal, whereas PV Sindhu, HS Prannoy, and Lakshya Sen spearheaded the country's singles campaign.
Around seven shuttlers went to Paris with high expectations but it was just Lakshya who could qualify for the semis.