Lakshya Sen embarked on his journey at the Porte de La Chapelle Arena on Thursday, part of a quartet of Indian shuttlers aiming for Olympic glory in Paris. As the day concluded, he stood alone as the last Indian contender. Sen and his fellow countryman and Olympic village roommate, HS Prannoy, faced off in the round of 16. Meanwhile, their compatriots, the men's doubles team of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, had just been eliminated from medal contention.

Sen, affirming his status as a burgeoning talent in Indian badminton, secured a convincing victory over Prannoy with scores of 12-21 and 6-21, despite Prannoy being ranked nine places higher in the global rankings. "Facing him on the world's grandest stage was an emotional encounter, with India pitted against itself," Sen reflected. "But once I stepped onto the court, I was fully focused."

"It's psychologically challenging because we share a room and train together," Prannoy admitted. "It's emotionally draining to navigate this scenario." "He displayed immense confidence and played a robust game... I simply wasn't at my peak."

In cricket-obsessed India, badminton has been steadily gaining popularity, spurred by former world number one Saina Nehwal's bronze medal win at the London Olympics. PV Sindhu quickly followed with silver in Rio and bronze in Tokyo. Later on Thursday, Sindhu's bid for a third consecutive Olympic medal was thwarted when she was defeated 19-21, 14-21 by China's He Bingjiao.

"It's disheartening that I couldn't achieve the outcome I desired," Sindhu remarked. "This is Lakshya's inaugural Olympics. I hope he gives it his all and performs at 100%."

India fielded seven athletes in Paris this year, and Sen remains the sole survivor. Rankireddy and Shetty were ousted in a tense match against the Malaysian pair Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi-Yik, while India's women's doubles team, Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa, were defeated 21-15, 21-10 by Australia's Angela Yu and Setyana Mapasa on Tuesday.

Sen is scheduled to compete against Taiwan's Chou Tien Chen, the former world number two men's singles player, who has made a remarkable comeback after battling cancer last year and has been in top form throughout the Paris Olympics.