Lee Zii Jia described it the right way. What does it mean to play in the Olympic Games?

“Expect the unexpected. In badminton here, the bronze medal match was between Lakshya and myself. I am the seventh seed and he is 19th, maybe? And the final (he points to the television screen where Viktor Axelsen and Kunlavut Vitidsarn were fighting for the gold medal — the Dane won 2-0) is between No.2 and No. 8. That means you do not have the top seed, the third, the fourth, fifth and the sixth in contention. These rings (Olympic rings) can do anything. It’s a stage where the mental aspect is the most important thing.”

Mental aspect. Lee hit at the right spot. Nobody knows better than Lakshya that he lost both the semi-final and the bronze medal playoff matches in the mind. For the second successive day, he failed to kill the game and now would return empty-handed from the Olympic Games where he promised so much.

Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia during the badminton men’s singles bronze medal match against Lakshya Sen at the Porte de La Chapelle Arena on Monday. Getty Images

On Monday, at the Porte de La Chapelle Arena, fighting for the bronze medal, Lakshya was one game up and leading 8-3 in the second. And he imploded. Lee, with nothing to lose, went for the broke. “It worked in my favour,” he would say later.

The Malaysian, bringing out all those winning smashes and diving returns won nine points on the trot and changed the course of the match. Lakshya, with a bruised elbow, could only watch as Lee walked away with a 13-21, 21-16, 21-11 win in 71 minutes. This was Malaysia’s second podium finish in Paris.

“I could have done better in the second game. I had my chances. But credit to him, he played a really good game,” a teary-eyed Lakshya could barely speak in the mixed zone. “I will try to come back stronger,” he said though one could hardly hear him speak. He was devastated by the thought of missing out on what could have been a deserving Olympic medal on debut. With Lakshya’s loss, India’s forgettable badminton campaign also ended.

After 12 years, the country failed to win a single medal in badminton. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty were one of the favourites for the gold and there was hope that PV Sindhu would be able to up her game to have a podium finish for the third time. Those were not to be.

Sen, who had a bruised right elbow, needed to replace his bandage thrice during the match. The Indian said it affected his momentum. “In between the points the blood was on the floor, so they had to wipe it. Sometimes, I was losing the momentum of just having a break in the game and then coming again and trying to refocus on the match.”