Paris Olympics 2024 Badminton: India’s Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy confirm their place in the quarterfinals
India’s badminton stars Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy secured their place in the men’s doubles quarterfinals at the Paris 2024 Olympics on Monday, July 29. The World No. 3 pair began their campaign at the quadrennial games with a decisive victory over France’s Lucas Corvee and Ronan Labar. They defeated the French pair, who are ranked 37 places below them in the world rankings, in straight games with scores of 21-17, 21-14.
In what was supposed to be their second group-stage match on Monday, Shetty and Rankireddy were set to face Germany’s Mark Lamsfuss and Marvin Seidel. Unfortunately, due to an injury sustained by Lamsfuss, the German pair decided to withdraw from the Olympics. As a result, the match was canceled, and any points from matches played against the Germans were declared void.
Meanwhile, the French pair Corvee and Labar faced another tough defeat in their match against the World No. 7 pair from Indonesia, Muhammad Rian Ardianto and Fajar Alfian. The Indonesian duo defeated Corvee and Labar with scores of 21-13, 21-10.
With two losses, the French team has no possibility of advancing to the knockout rounds. Consequently, both the Indian and Indonesian pairs are guaranteed to finish in the top two spots in Group C. Shetty and Rankireddy will face Ardianto and Alfian on Tuesday (July 30) to determine the group winner.
Who will Satwik and Chirag face in the knockout rounds of the Paris Olympics 2024?
In doubles, unlike the singles events where group winners are placed in predetermined spots in the knockout draw, a random draw determines the quarterfinal matchups.
However, this draw ensures that group winners and pairs from the same group will not face each other in the quarterfinals, guaranteeing that a group winner can only face a second-ranked pair from a different group in the next stage.
The random draw will only take place once all the group-stage matches have been completed. After Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty finish their final group-stage match against Muhammad Rian Ardianto and Fajar Alfian, they will have to wait until the last men's doubles match scheduled for July 31 is completed to find out who they will face in the quarterfinals.