Tokyo: Indian men’s double shuttlers Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty bowed out of the Tokyo Olympics despite winning their final Group A encounter 21-17, 21-19 against British pair Ben Lane and Sean Vendy on Tuesday. With India, Chinese Taipei, and Indonesia tied on two wins each, it was Chinese Taipei and Indonesia who advanced to the quarterfinals from the group due to higher game averages.
Third seeds Lee Yang and Wang Chi-Lin of Chinese Taipei defeated top-ranked Indonesian Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo 21-18, 15-21, 21-17 just five minutes before Indian faced Great Britain. Had Yang and Chi-Lin won in two sets, the Indians would have had an outside chance to sail into the next stage.
Kudos to Men's Doubles pair of Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty on winning the match against Team Great Britain 2-0.
Their journey in #Tokyo2020 has been thrilling, however they fail to qualify for the next stage.#badminton #Olympics #Cheer4India
— SAIMedia (@Media_SAI) July 27, 2021
Although the World No.10 Indians defeated higher-ranked Chinese Taipei in their opener, Satwik-Chirag’s loss against the Indonesians cost them dearly. The outcome could have been different had the Indian duo won at least one game against the Indonesians. Chirag’s injury at a critical stage, as well as allowing the Indonesians to dominate, harmed India’s chances.
“We knew the moment Lee Yang/Wang Chi-Lin (TPE) won, we didn’t stand a chance. They won in two games and we won in three. It is quite sad. But unfortunately, even after winning two matches in the group, we don’t go through. But that is badminton and we have to live with it,” Chirag told the BWF website.
Satwik also expressed his disappointment stating, “Because of that, we came into it thinking it was going to be our last game in the Olympics. So we weren’t under pressure. We kept it simple. But it was disappointing to see the Indonesians (Gideon/Sukamuljo) lose (just before we went on). I feel that we have learnt so much from this badminton experience and there are a lot of positives to take home.”
