Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty lost the quarterfinals of the Men’s doubles event in badminton, going down 21-13, 14-21, 16-21 against the current World No. 3 Malaysia’s Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik at the Paris Olympics. The Malaysians will meet China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang on Friday. They beat Indonesia’s Alfian Fajar, Ardianto Muhammad Rian 2-0.
HIGHLIGHTS | HOW THE QUARTER UNFOLDED
The Indian duo had an 8-3 win-loss record against their Malaysian opponents, but they had won their last three matches in a row. It was a very close start to the quarterfinal, with both pairs exchanging serves but neither gaining momentum for long. The Indians had a slender 11-10 lead at the mid-game interval but pulled away soon after, extending the advantage with swift points before eventually taking the first game 21-13.
The Malaysians made a comeback in the second game, narrowly defeating the Indians 11-10 at the mid-game interval before quickly extending their lead to 16-12. Each team made a service error, resulting in a score of 17-14 in favor of the Malaysians. The Malaysians then further increased their lead to 21-14, equalising the match 1-1, thereby pushing the match into the deciding game.
Satwik and Chirag got off to a slow start in the final game, trailing 2-4 but soon made it 5-5 as it became evident that the quarterfinal match hurtled towards a tense finish. The Indians, though scratchy, held their nerves to go into the final mid-game interval, 11-9.
After the break, both teams were evenly matched, but the Malaysians surged ahead when it counted and won the last game 21-16.
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