Tokyo Olympics: “Lots of positives to take back home,” Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy react after Group Stage exit in Badminton


Tokyo Olympics: “Lots of positives to take back home,” Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy react after Group Stage exit in Badminton

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty

Day 5 of the Tokyo Olympics was not the best day for India, as the duo of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy were knocked out in the Group Stages in Badminton. The Indian duo are ranked number ten in the world, and put up a valiant show during the Tokyo Olympics.

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Chirag and Satwiksairaj defeated the British pairing of Ben Lane and Sean Vendy in their final group game on Tuesday. The Indian duo won in straight games, to secure their second win in Tokyo. However, they could still nit make it to the quarterfinals, as the Chinese Taipei pairing of Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin progressed only on game difference.

The Indian duo had defeated the world number three ranked Taipei team in the first match, however they were defeated in straight games in their second match by the Indonesian pairing of Marcus Gideon and Kevin Sukamuljo. In the final group game, the world number one ranked Indonesian team were defeated by Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin in three games.

Heartbreak for Indian badminton duo at Tokyo Olympics

Olympics is known to be an event of the finest margins. This came into effect in Badminton, as the pairing of Chirag and Satwik bowed out in the group stage due to an inferior game difference. The Indonesian and Chinese Taipei pairings had a game difference of +2 which helped them book a quarterfinal berth. Hence, the Indian pair entered their last group game against the Britons, knowing a quarterfinal berth was out of their reach.

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We knew the moment Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin won. We did not stand a chance. They won in two games and we won in three. It is quite sad. But, unfortunately even after winning two matches in the group, we do not go through, but this is Badminton and we have to live with it,” said Chirag.

Because of that, we came into it thinking it was our last match at Olympics, so we were not under pressure. We kept it simple, but it was disappointing to see Indonesians lose before we went on. I feel that we have learnt so much from our experience, and there are so many positives to take back home,” said Satwiksairaj.

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