Paris Olympics: Lakshya Sen enters last-8, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty knocked out

New Delhi: Thursday proved out to be a mixed day for Indian men’s badminton team at the Paris Olympics 2024 as star shuttler Lakshya Sen stormed into the last-8 in the men’s single competition while the pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty were knocked out of the doubles quarterfinal match.

Lakshya proved to be too tough for compatriot HS Prannoy as he beat him 21-12, 21-6 enter the badminton men’s singles quarter-finals at the showpiece event. He now becomes the third Indian to reach the quarterfinals at the Olympics after Parupalli Kashyap and Kidambi Srikanth, had reached the quarterfinals in the London and Rio edition of the Olympic Games in 2012 and 2016. Lakshya Sen, ranked 22, will now face 12th seed Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien Chen in the quarterfinals.

“I think having tough matches gives you confidence. I am now ready to go deep into the tournament. It will be a tricky match against Chou, I have to go and recover well and give my 100 per cent,” Sen said after the match.

Shocking defeat for Satwik-Chirag

What was unexpected was the departure of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty as they were knocked out by Aaron Chia and Wooi Yik Soh (Malaysia) in the men’s doubles badminton quarter-final. The pair was among the favourites for the gold medal  but unfortunately, the reigning Asian Games champions and Commonwealth Games winners, squandered a first-game advantage to go down 21-13, 14-21, 16-21 in a hard-fought quarterfinal against the world number 3 Malaysians.

Expectations were high from the two Indians given the pair’s domination with four final appearances and two titles at the French Open and Thailand Open this year but they could not unfortunately carry on the momentum. PV Sindhu will be the other India in fray later in the evening on Thursday.

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 Lakshya Sen entered the men’s singles quarterfinals at the Paris Olympics 2024 on Thursday while Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty were knocked out.  Other Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today