Paris Olympics: Sindhu’s dream shattered, Satwik-Chirag come unstuck

Lakshya Sen, who defeated compatriot H.S. Prannoy to enter the quarterfinals, was the only Indian shuttler left in the medal race.

PV Sindhu of India reacts during her women’s singles match against He Bing Jiao of China at the La Chapelle Arena in Paris on August 1, 2024. | Photo Credit: Ritu Raj Konwar

It was a day of massive disappointment for India on the badminton courts of the Olympics at the Porte de La Chapelle arena here on Thursday.

Two-time medallist P.V. Sindhu’s dream of a historic third medal remained unfulfilled while a strong medal hope, the Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty pair, could not rise to the expectations.

Lakshya Sen, who defeated compatriot H.S. Prannoy to enter the quarterfinals, was the only Indian shuttler left in the medal race.

World No.13 Lakshya dispatched the 22nd-placed Prannoy 21-12, 21-6 in a one-sided match.

Lakshya rode on some fine smashes and Prannoy’s mistakes to have a five-point cushion at the break and built on it to take the first game.

Unplayable shots

The 22-year-old Lakshya banked on his better fitness to unleash some unplayable shots while a tiring Prannoy, who was down with chikungunya a few weeks back, committed unforced errors before bowing out.

Lakshya, a World championships bronze medallist, will take on another Worlds medallist, Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien-chen, ranked 11th, in the quarterfinals.

While Lakshya expects his next match to be tough, Prannoy left wiping his tears.

Sindhu, who gave a good account of herself after returning from an injury, was beaten 21-19, 21-14 by World No. 9 He Bing Jiao of China in the women’s singles pre-quarterfinals.

He’s impressive court coverage and wide range of shots kept her ahead. The Chinese, leading 11-9 head-to-head, produced some brilliant down the line and cross court smashes to establish a five-point lead in the first game.

The 13th-ranked Sindhu got into her rhythm and made some successful challenges to draw level at 12-12 but He drilled two superb jump smashes to secure the first game.

The Chinese grabbed six consecutive points to go 8-2 up in the second. Sindhu fought well in some rallies but could not stop He.

“It’s sad that I couldn’t convert it to a win, especially the first game because it was 19-all at one point. We did whatever we could,” said Sindhu.

The ouster of the World No. 5 duo Satwik-Chirag was a big blow as well.

The Malaysian third-ranked pair, Aaron Chia and Wooi Yik Soh, rallied to beat the Indians 13-21, 21-14, 21-16 in a 64-minute men’s doubles quarterfinal clash.

Satwik and Chirag, who won their last three engagements against the Malaysians, relied on their fine placement and powerful smashes to win the first game. Satwik-Chirag, who led 4-0 in the second, lost the momentum as Chia-Soh applied pressure. The neck-and-neck contest continued until the Indians erred, including hitting wide or into the net, and helped in their rivals’ comeback.

Badminton duo Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty in action during the men’s doubles quarterfinal against Malaysia’s Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik in the Olympic Games Paris 2024, at La Chapelle Arena in Paris on Thursday. The duo lost the game by 21-13, 14-21, 16-21. | Photo Credit: ANI

“We should’ve been a little calmer,” said Chirag “I think at 14-11, at a point or two, we got quite unlucky,” he added.

“We have dealt with big matches. It’s on the mental side not to take so much on to the court. Not to think like something extra special. We focused on that. We just wanted to give our 100 per cent,” said Satwiksairaj.