Star Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen’s victory over Kevin Cordon in the opening men’s singles Group L match won’t be counted as his Guatemalan opponent pulled out of the Paris Olympics due to a left elbow injury.
“Guatemalan men’s singles player Kevin Cordon has withdrawn from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games Badminton Competition due to a left elbow injury,” the Badminton World Federation (BWF) said in an update.
“His remaining Group L matches against Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie (Court 2, 2 p.m. local time, 29 July 2024) and Julien Carraggi of Belgium (Court 3, ‘Not Before’ 9:20 a.m. local time, 31 July 2024) will not be played. Matches on these courts in each respective session have been rescheduled.
“As per BWF General Competition Regulations for group stage play, the results of all matches played, or yet to be played, involving Cordon in Group L are now considered deleted,” the sport’s global governing body added.
The withdrawal of Cordon, a Tokyo Olympics semifinalist, means Group L will now be considered a three-player affair, involving Christie and Carraggi of Belgium besides Sen.
The 22-year-old Indian will be the only player in the group to have played three matches as the other two will need to compete in two matches to make it to the knockout stage.
Sen will face Carraggi on July 29 and take on Christie in his final group match on July 31.