Chirag-Satwik out despite win
Tokyo, July 27: Indian shuttlers Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy emerged victorious against the England pair of Ben Lane and Sean Vendy in their final Group ‘A’ match but still missed out on qualifying for the quarterfinals at the Tokyo Olympics, here on Tuesday.
The Indians beat World No. 18 team 21-17, 21-19 in a Group ‘A’ men’s doubles match at the Musashino Forest Plaza.
However, they couldn’t make it to the knockout stage as they finished third in the Group ‘A’ behind Indonesian team of Marcus Gideon Fernaldi and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo and Yang Lee and Chi-Lin Wang of Chinese Taipei.
All three teams finished on same points with two wins each and when the number of games won was considered to identify the qualifiers, the Indians lost. Chirag and Satwik’s straight game loss to the Indonesians on Monday cost them dear.
Moments before the Indian pair stepped on the court, Lee and Wang had completed a threegame win over Sukamuljo and Gideon in the preceding group match, rendering the result of India’s contest against Britain inconsequential.
Only the top two pairs of each group advance to the quarterfinals.
The Indian duo looked in good rhythm. They opened up a narrow 5-3 lead but the English pair came soon moved ahead 11-10 at the break. Chirag and Satwik slowly started to dominate the proceedings and eventually grabbed the opening game when Lane hit wide.
The Indian duo kept their nose ahead at 16-13, riding on the errors of their opponents.