Olympic badminton: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Chirag Shetty top group
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Paris: Medal contenders Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty notched up a dominating straight-game win against Indonesian duo of Muhammad Rian Ardianto and Fajar Alfian to top Group C in men's doubles badminton competition at the Paris Games here on Tuesday.
The third-seeded Indias beat their opponents 21-13, 21-13 in the final Group C match that lasted just 38 minutes.
The reigning Asian Games champions had qualified for the quarterfinals on Monday after the withdrawal of one pair and the loss suffered by another. Tuesday's match was meant to decide group winner.
The Indonesian pair also qualified for the quarterfinals after finishing second in the group.
The draw for the quarterfinals will be held on Wednesday.
Satwik and Chirag were scheduled to meet the German duo of Mark Lamsfuss and Marvin Seidel on Monday in what was supposed to to be their second Group C match. But the match was cancelled following the withdrawal of Lamsfuss due to injury.
As a result, the Group C was considered as a three-pair affair, with the duo of Lucas Corvee and Ronan Labar of France being the third one. The Frenchmen lost both their matches and were eliminated.
Two teams from each of the four groups qualify for the quarterfinals.