Sat-Chi shocked in Paris!

Chirag Shetty (below) and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy during their quarter-final in Paris yesterday. Pic/Getty Images

An Olympic medal that Indian badminton fans had taken virtually for granted went abegging when the highly fancied men's doubles team of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty squandered a bright start to their Olympic Games quarter-final against Malaysia's Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik, and went down 21-13, 14-21, 16-21.

IOC's sheer cruelty

However, Lakshya Sen continued his outstanding form to hand his fellow-countryman, HS Prannoy a comprehensive 21-12, 21-6 hammering in the all-Indian Round of 16 clash. It was sheer cruelty on the part of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to have two compatriots face each other at such an early stage of the tournament; and it did not happen to any of the other countries who had two players in the draw.

Also Read: Archer Pravin Jhadav bows out in opening round

Lakshya Sen

Prannoy, 32, one of the heroes of India's 2022 Thomas Cup win, had nothing left in the tank Thursday, after recovering from a debilitating attack of chikungunya barely three weeks before the onset of the tournament, and also having to struggle over three games at 16-21, 21-11, 21-12 the previous evening to beat Vietnam's Le Duc Phat.

But whereas the Kerala-born shuttler had used reserve fuel, willpower and badminton wiles to tame the enthusiastic, but far less skilful 26-year-old Vietnamese, he could do precious little against Lakshya, who was a full decade his junior, was trained to the minute, and brimming with ambition and determination.

A workmanlike game

Realising that he just needed to lengthen the rallies with Prannoy and cut down on mistakes, Lakshya played a workmanlike game without resorting to the kind of heroics he had employed the previous day against All England and Asian champion, Jonatan Christie of Indonesia.

The 22 year old Indian simply coasted into the quarter-finals where he will cross swords with Chinese Taipei's No. 12 seed, Chou Tien Chen. The 34-year-old Chou was clinically efficient as he sidelined an error-prone No. 5 seed, Kodai Naraoka of Japan 21-12, 21-16.

The sizeable Indian contingent watching the badminton action at the Porte de la Chapelle Arena were delirious with joy when Satwik and Chirag began their quarter-final against Chia and Soh in storming fashion, tearing through the defence of the Malaysians with lethal smashes from Satwik and lightning net interceptions from his partner.

In a trice, the first game was in the bag, and a semi-final place was beginning to look secure. Alas, it was too good to last. The Malaysians, who
held an 8-3 lead in their head-to-head meetings, but had lost the most recent three ties, steadied themselves in the second. In the individual battle between the two rally creators, Chia and Chirag, it was the Indian who invariably came off second best.