Paris [France], July 29 : The men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty scripted history and became the first Indian badminton doubles pair to advance to the quarterfinals at the Olympics.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty confirmed their place in the quarterfinals of the Paris Olympics 2024 on Monday after Lucas Corvee-Ronan Labar of France conceded defeat against Indonesia's Muhammad Rian Ardianto-Fajar Alfian in Group C.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will be hoping to continue with their winning momentum at the Paris Olympics, despite their second Group C match against Germany's Marvin Seidel and Mark Lamsfuss being cancelled due to Mark facing a knee injury, making their third game a must-win one.
As per a statement from Badminton World Federation (BWF), Mark Lamsfuss has withdrawn from the Olympic Games Paris 2024 badminton competition due to a knee injury.
'Sat-Chi' started their Paris Olympics voyage with a win over France's Lucas Corvee and Ronan Labar 21-17, 21-14 in the men's doubles Group C match on Saturday.
Satwiksairaj and Chirag defeated Lucas Corvee and Ronan Labar in a straight games and ended the match in 46 minutes.
The French pair fought hard with the support of the home crowd, but the star Indian duo eventually sailed through.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty were supposed to lock horns with world number 31 and 2022 European Badminton men's doubles champions Marvin and Mark, but an injury has led to the cancellation of the match.
Satwiksairaj and Chirag's next opponents will be the Indonesian pair of Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto on Tuesday. This match will be a must win for the Indian duo as it is their last game before the quarterfinals.
The Indonesia duo was formerly a number one pair and is currently ranked seven. Both secured world championship bronze medals in the 2019 and 2022 editions of the competition and were also a part of the 2020 Thomas Cup winning Indonesian team.
Both of these teams have clashed five times, with the Indian pair having a slight edge with three wins and two losses. In their recent clash at the Korean Open 2023 final, Sat-Chi had prevailed.
Satwiksairaj, along with his men's doubles partner Chirag Shetty, are perhaps the strongest contenders for a medal.
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