Paris 2024 Olympics, Indian Badminton wrap: Lakshya Sen’s medal chances still alive; Sindhu, Satwik-Chirag crash out

World No.13 Lakshya dispatched compatriot Prannoy, placed 22nd, 21-12, 21-6 in a one-sided match lasting 39 minutes. The duo of Satwik-Chirag was knocked out in last-eight encounter against Malaysia.

India’s Lakshya Sen defeated his compatriot H.S. Prannoy in Paris 2024 Olympics. | Photo Credit: AP

Lakshya Sen kept his chances of an Olympic medal alive by beating compatriot H.S. Prannoy in the men’s singles pre-quarterfinals but the country’s strong medal hopes, the men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, lost their last-eight encounter in badminton competitions at the Porte de La Chapell arena here on Thursday.

World No.13 Lakshya dispatched compatriot Prannoy, placed 22nd, 21-12, 21-6 in a one-sided match lasting 39 minutes.

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

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

The 22-year-old Lakshya banked on his better fitness to unleash some unplayable shots while a tiring Prannoy, who was down with chikungunya infection 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 11 ^th, in the quarterfinals.

“The next match against Chou will be tough,” said Lakshya.

Prannoy left, wiping his tears and thanking his team for pushing him to play.

Sindhu, who gave a good account of herself after returning from an injury, was beaten 21-19, 21-14 by World No.9 Chinese He Bing Jiao in 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.

The 13th-ranked Sindhu got into her rhythm and made some successful challenges to draw parity at 12-12.

He continued to progress before drilling 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.

Earlier, India got a jolt to its medal prospects with the ouster of World No.5 duo Satwik-Chirag.

The Malaysian World No.3 pair of Chia and 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 had won their last three engagements against Chia and Soh, looked like extending their record as they took off from 10-10 to pick up five straight points due to their fine placement and powerful smashes to win the first game comfortably.

Satwik-Chirag, who led 4-0, lost momentum as the Malaysians applied pressure. The neck-and-neck contest continued until the Indians erred, including hitting wide or into the net, and helped their rivals to make a comeback.

As Korean World champions Kang Min-hyuk and Seo Seung-jae fell to the Danish duo of Kim Astrup and Andres Rasmussen on the adjacent court and the large Danish crowd erupted in joy, the arena turned electrifying.

With their tail up, the Malaysians perhaps drew from the energy of the ambience. They put Satwik-Chirag under pressure by making them defend heavily, getting engaged in a few rallies and finding gaps to score points. The gripping game, in which the Indians fought back to lead 14-11, was nicely balanced until 16-16 before the Satwik-Chirag pair faltered a few times to see the end of the road.

“We should have been a little calmer in those situations. I think at 14-11, at a point or two, we got quite unlucky,” said Chirag.

“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. Quite disappointed that we couldn’t win a medal. There’s always the next time. We’ll introspect what needs to be done and we’ll come back stronger,” said Satwiksairaj, as the duo’s body language said they were trying to come to terms with their exit.