'It was painful to watch him cry': Satwik reveals Srikanth was distraught after India's badminton final loss

New Delhi, India

Indian badminton star Satwiksairaj Rankireddy revealed his teammate Kidambi Srikanth was distraught and in tears as he blamed himself for the Indian team's loss against Malaysia in the final of the mixed team event at the ongoing Commonwealth Games 2022. India lost the final 1-3 against Malaysia to settle for the silver medal at the showpiece event on Tuesday.

Only PV Sindhu managed to win her women's singles contest against Jin Wei Goh in straight sets as India lost the other three out of the first four matches to lose the final. It was a disappointing defeat for the Indian team, who would have fancied their chances against Malaysia.

India started off with a defeat in the final as the men's doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy lost against Malaysia's  Teng Fong Aaron Chia and Wooi Yik in the first match to see the team go down 1-0. Sindhu pulled India level at 1-1 after winning her singles match against Wei Goh but Srikanth went down next in the men's singles clash to see India trail 2-1.

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Srikanth was up against Ng Tze Yong, who was won the first set of their clash 21-19 before losing 6-21 as the Indian shuttler fought back. However, the Malaysian regained the momentum in the third set and clinched it 21-16 to put Malaysia ahead 2-1 in the final.

Satwik revealed he had never seen Srikanth cry before in his life but revealed the senior Indian shuttler was in tears after losing against Tze Yong in the final on Tuesday.“Srikanth anna was so distraught. But it’s not just his mistake though he’s blaming himself. Even I lost a match,” he was quoted as saying by Indian Express.

After Srikanth's defeat, India still had some hope left in the final as they expected a miraculous upset from the women's doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand against the Malaysian pair of Muralitharan Thinaah and Koong Le Pearly Tan. However, the duo lost sealing India's fate in the mixed team event at CWG 2022.

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Satwik revealed Treesa and Gayatri were also disappointed after their loss and cried. The Indian star, however, said the final loss was not the end of the road for Indian shuttlers at CWG 2022 a they will now hope to do well in the singles and doubles events at the Games.

“Gayatri and Treesa were very disappointed after their loss and Treesa cried too. I’m happy that the pain was there. This has really fired us up, especially Chirag and Srikanth Anna. This is not the end for us and maybe the tough losses will push us to bigger results. Maybe Srikanth will win World Championship gold! Everyday is a first day,” said Satwik.

Satwik also revealed he doesn't like watching other Indian athletes during their matches as it makes him nervous. He said he didn't watch Srikanth play in the final on Tuesday but kept hearing the score and it was heartbreaking for him to see the senior player cry after his defeat.

“Actually any Indian athletes. Today morning I couldn’t watch the weightlifting girl. It’s so easy to play your own match in comparison. I walked out when Srikanth anna started, but I could still hear the score in big TV so I put loud music. It was so irritating. Then it was painful to watch him cry,” Satwik said.