Badminton Highlights, Paris 2024 Olympics: Ponnappa-Crasto pair loses to Japan’s Shida-Matsuyama in women’s doubles — July 29 updates

And the Japan pair make light work of Ponnappa/Crasto to win the group stage match in straight games. 

Match point for Shida/Matsuyama.

A service error from Ponnappa as she leaks another point. 

The Japanese pair is running away with the lead. Too tough to surmount a comeback now. 

Matsuyama engages in a long rally in the end and finds a skewed angle to win a point. 

Quick return from net helps Crasto get a point after Shida shots wide. 

Action repeats as Crasto’s concedes another point in a similar fashion. 

A body line smash from Matyusama and Crasto had just no defence to counter that. 

Some aggressive play from Crasto and Ponnappa as they take three back-to-back points. 

Things are looking quite bleak for the Indian pair after Shida/Matsuyama widened their lead by nine points. 

Crasto requires medical attention after she injures her finger. She seems uncomfortable at the moment. 

Shida sets up the point from the rear court before Matyusama finishes off from the net. 

Back-to-back points lost by the Indian pair before Shida charged down the court to smash from the net, winning another point. 

Early lead for Shida/Matyusama as they keep Ponnappa/Crasto under pressure right from the start. 

Crasto/Ponnappa pair needs to win this game in order to stay in contention. 

Both Crasto and Ponnappa were late in the return as Shida/Matsuyama took the first game easily. 11-21 in favour of Japan pair. 

Another game point saved by Ponnappa. 

Crasto/Ponnappa save two game points to delay the inevitable. 

Game point for Shida/Matsuyama. 

Two more points lost by Crasto/Ponnappa as the Japan pair is closing in on the game point. 

The duo is not able to win back-to-back points. One or other error keeps haunting the pair. 

Crasto helps the pair to win a point before making a service error to leak one. 

Shida/Matsuyama extended their lead to 10 now. This is not looking very good for the Indians/ 

A quick trade-off of points means the lead remains the same for Japan. 

Crasto in rescue act this time to change the angle of the return, Matsuyama was late in her reaction. 

Ah, the game is going away from India’s reach with every point dropped. Another error by the Indian pair to widen the gap. 

Another easy point for Shida/Matsuyama after Ponnappa shot wide. 11-3 lead for Japan at the moment. 

Shida’s shot goes wide, a point to the Indian pair. 

Ponnappa errors in return to give away another point. 

Shida angles her racquet smartly to find a vacant spot for her near-perfect smash. 

Both Crasto and Ponnappa were involved in a long rally before the former shot long to concede a point. 

This time it was Crasto, who came near the net and delivered a body smash to win a point. 

Finally, a point for the Indian pair, Ponnappa smashes from the middle to wrong-foot her Japanese counter-part. 

A lovely rally comes to an end after over-aggressive Crasto nets another shot. The Indian pair is yet to open their account

And within no time Shida/Matsuyama made it a 4-0 lead after Crasto netted in a long rally. 

Service for the Japan duo, they start with a point after the Indian fair falters. 

Both pairs are done with their practice and it is time for some live action. 

Umpire: Chaowei Charles Wang (Chinese Taipei)

Service Judge: Ivo Kassel (Switzerland)

The live telecast of the Paris Olympics will be available on Sports18 while the live streaming will be available on JioCinema in India from July 26 to August 11, 2024.

Hello and welcome to Sportstar’s live coverage of the badminton women’s doubles match where Ashwini Ponappa and Tanisha Crasto will be in action against the Japanese pair of Chiharu Shida and Nami Matsuyama. Stay tuned as we bring you all the live updates.