Veteran shuttler HS Prannoy, who was part of India’s bronze medal-winning team at the recently concluded Thomas Cup, believes Lakshya Sen’s absence completely shifted the balance of the semi-final against France, which India lost 0-3.

World No. 11 Sen, India’s highest ranked singles player, suffered an elbow injury during his quarter-final match with Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien Chen and could not recover in time to face France’s World No. 4 Christo Popov, who defeated an inexperienced Ayush Shetty instead.