Paris Olympics 2024: Satwik-Chirag miss out on medal as Indian pairing bows out in QF

Indian pairing of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty bowed out of the Paris Olympics 2024 men’s doubles in badminton after they lost to Malaysia’s Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik on Thursday (August 1). The Indian pairing favourite to win at least a bronze medal lost to the Malaysian pair 13-21, 21-14, 21-16 despite winning the opening game. The defeat also means India missed out on a medal with both Chirag-Satwik looked at as prospects. The hopes from badminton now lie on the shoulders of PV Sindhu, Lakshya Sen and HS Prannoy with the latter two meeting in the R16 of men’s singles.

Chirag-Satwik lose in QF

One of the brightest prospects of medals for India, the pair was a step closer to booking their place in the semis and made a bright start to the match. They won the opening game with ease having dropped just 13 points. However, the second game saw their world turn upside-down as the Malaysian pair made a good comeback. They won the second game 21-14 to take the match into the deciding third game.

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In the third game, the Indian pair struggled to make an impact and were trailing until the midway point before finding their mojo. Despite being down 6-2 at one stage they managed to go into the break at 11-9. With a close battle for a place in the semis, the Indian pair lost their concentration at the crucial stage.

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Despite leading 16-15 in the final game, both Chirag-Satwik lost six consecutive points to lose the match and hand the semis berth to their Malaysian opponents.

India will now rely on PV Sindhu who will be a bigger prospect of medal in women’s singles having won medals at the last two Olympics. She won silver in Rio (2016) and followed that with a bronze medal in Tokyo (2020)and will be hoping to go better this time.