Paris, France

It was a poor day at the office for India in badminton at the ongoing Paris Olympics 2024 after it suffered a triple blow on Thursday (August 1) as top shuttlers were knocked out. The biggest defeat of the day came in the form of two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu losing to China’s He Bingjiao in the R16 clash. The day also saw Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty lose their quarterfinal contest, while HS Prannoy lost to fellow Indian Lakshya Sen in what was a triple blow for India.

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PV Sindhu bows out

Coming into the round of 16 contest, Sindhu had won all her group stage matches and was a medal prospect for India. However, she did not stand tall in the R16 contest against her Chinese opponent and lost 21-19, 21-14 in what was a poor show by Sindhu’s standards. She gave a good account of herself in the opening game but ultimately lost the big points. Things did not pan out well in the second game too as she was poor in attack.

She lost the second game in 20 minutes, meaning she had to pack up from R16 despite winning medals at the last two Olympics.

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Earlier, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also bowed out of the Paris Olympics 2024 men’s doubles after they lost to Malaysia’s Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik. The Indian pair, hopeful of a medal win, lost to the Malaysian pair 13-21, 21-14, 21-16 despite winning the opening game. The day also had HS Prannoy bowing out in R16 having lost to fellow countrymen and India’s only winner in badminton on Day 6, Lakshya Sen.

The hopes of the nation now lie on the shoulders of Manu Bhaker who will be in action on Friday (August 2) when she takes the range in the 25m air pistol team event. The Indian hockey team will also take the field in their last group stage match when they square off against Australia.