Heartbreak for Indian Badminton Duo at Paris Olympics

The Indian badminton team had a tough day at the Paris Olympics as Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty faced a heartbreaking defeat in the men’s doubles quarterfinals on Thursday.

The duo started the match on a high, taking the first game convincingly with a score of 21-13 against the Malaysian pair, Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik, who are currently ranked third in the world.

However, the Malaysian opponents quickly turned the tables and bounced back, winning the second game 21-14, which sent the match into a nail-biting third game.

The final game was an intense and closely contested battle, with both pairs exchanging points back and forth. In the end, it was the Malaysians who clinched the victory with a 21-16 win.

This loss marked an early exit for the Indian pair, who had high hopes after their recent wins at the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games.

Interestingly, Satwik and Chirag had previously had a successful run against Chia and Yik, having secured three wins in their last three encounters. However, this defeat stings the most since it happened on such a significant stage.

Now, the Malaysian duo is set to face a tough challenge in the semifinals against the world number one pair from China, Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang.

Meanwhile, the Indian hopes in badminton are not completely dashed. PV Sindhu and men’s singles players HS Prannoy and Lakshya Sen still have their matches ahead, though only one of Prannoy or Sen will move forward as they are set to face each other in the next round.