Sindhu and Lakshya post victories

Sindhu outclasses Estonia's Kristin Kuuba 21-5, 21-10; Lakshya defeats Jonatan Christie 21-18, 21-12

- G KRISHNAN

Sen faced a 2-8 deficit early in the first game to win 21-18, 21-12 in 51 minutes. Sen sought inspiration from his once-in-a-while training partner Viktor Axelsen

India's Lakshya Sen may have dropped four places in his rankings, from 18 to 22 in the latest list as on July 30 in men's singles badminton. But, he has not dropped any of his skill sets required to advance in the Olympic Games.

On Wednesday, in his do-or-die last Group L match against world No 4 Jonatan Christie of Indonesia, the 22-year-old Sen came back from an early deficit to create a huge upset and advance to the round of 16 knockout stage of the Games. This was Sen's first win over Christie in their last five head-to-head and overall second in six clashes.