Paris: Indian shuttlers Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty's dreams of securing a maiden Olympic medal came crashing down after a heartbreaking three-game loss to Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik of Malaysia in the men's doubles quarterfinals at the Paris Games here on Thursday. P V Sindhu too bowed out after going down to China's He Bingjiao 19-21, 14-21 in the women's singles pre-quarterfinals.
Lakshya Sen registered a comfortable straight-game win over compatriot H S Prannoy to become only the third male player ever from the country to reach the quarterfinals of the Olympicc badminton.
The 22-year-old from Almora, a reigning Commonwealth Games champion and a 2021 World Championships bronze-medallist, looked in complete control as he notched up a 21-12, 21-6 win over world No. 13 Prannoy in a 39-minute pre-quarterfinal clash.
Sen joined Parupalli Kashyap and Kidambi Srikanth, who had reached the quarterfinals in the London and Rio edition of the Olympic Games in 2012 and 2016 respectively.
Currently ranked 22, Sen will 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.
Sen was steady in his defence and mixed his attack well, while Prannoy, who played a three-game match last evening, looked tired and didn't show much resistance during the contest.
It was the end of campaign for Prannoy, who had recovered from a bout of Chikungunya to compete at his maiden Olympics.
Sen was off to a good start, leading 7-4. He kept things under control as Prannoy seemed to struggle, played too defensively and was left to do the catch-up act. Sen closed out the opening game comfortably.
The second game was over in a jiffy as Sen looked rock solid and quickly wrapped up the contest after leading all the way.
Satwik-Chirag let it slip
One of the favourites for the gold medal, Satwik and Chirag, 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 to the world No. 3 Malaysians.
Aaron and Chia, the 2022 world champions and Tokyo Games bronze winners, will face world No. 1 and top seed Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang in the semifinals.
The Indians entered the contest after stitching three successive wins against the Malaysians in the last three meetings.
Aaron and Chia had defeated the Indians eight times on the trot before those victories but none would hurt more than this loss as it came on the world's biggest stage.
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.
Carrying a billion hope, Satwik and Chirag, the former world no. 1, almost brutalised the Malaysians in the opening game with their aggressive display, but Aaron and Soh changed the tactics thereafter, bunting their attack and playing a more flat-fast game. Some defensive lapses also cost the Indians dear.
Sindhu's hopes dashed
Sindhu's hopes of winning a third Olympic medal lay in tatters as she exited the Games with a straight-game loss to China's world No. 6 He Bingjiao in the women's singles pre-quarterfinals.
The 29-year-old from Hyderabad failed to mount a consistent attack and was outplayed 21-19, 21-14 by Bingjiao in a 56-minute round of 16 clash, which was a rematch of the Tokyo Olympic bronze medal play-off.
Sindhu, who won the silver and bronze medal at the Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo editions, had topped the group to qualify for the knockout stage here.
Bingjiao produced an attacking masterclass with especially her lethal forehand troubling Sindhu. The Chinese landed hard and accurate smashes to gather points at will, while Sindhu was guilty of going short with her lifts.
The Indian couldn't play at a high pace to counter her opponent's attack and after an intense opening game, she faded into oblivion as Bingjiao exacted revenge for the Tokyo defeat.
In the opening game, Bingjiao was 5-1 up as Sindhu committed some defensive errors and faltered in execution. The Chinese used flat pushes and tried to keep her back. Sindhu erred as her deep returns went wide and long. Soon it was 8-3 in favour of the Chinese.
Sindhu stepped up the pace and took control of the net as the rallies got extended. Sindhu's short lifts were punished by Bingjiao, who produced some sensational shots from the forehand corner.
A cross-court and down-the-line smash from Bingjiao helped her to take a three-point cushion at the break.
But Sindhu managed to draw parity at 12-12 after the Chinese sprayed into net. Two soft errors at the net by Sindhu was followed by a deceptive follow-up shot from Bingjio, who moved to 17-14.
Sindhu made it 17-18 before Bingjiao unleashed a body smash. It was then Sindhu's turn to produce a smash and it was 19-19. Bingjiao put a precise on-the-line return to grab one game point.
Bingjiao then sealed a long rally with a forehand jump smash to let out a roar.
After the change of sides, Bingjiao continued to mount her attack while Sindhu's length was a bit off as the Chinese quickly moved to 6-2. Bingjiao showed better anticipation and was also alert at the net, as she grabbed two more points.
Sindhu reeled off three points but Bingjiao kept the pressure on Sindhu with two more jump smashes to take an 11-5 advantage in the interval after the Indian found the net.
Sindhu continued to struggle with her execution as Bingjiao dominated the rallies with her aggressive display to quickly move to 14-8.
A forehand cross-court and a flat drive from Sindhu kept her hopes alive but it proved too late as Bingjiao moved to 18-11 after the Indian went wide again.
The Chinese grabbed seven match points and converted in the second opportunity after Sindhu went long again.
