Tokyo 2020: Chirag-Satwik exit despite win

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty discuss tactics. Photo: AFP

Tokyo: Indian shuttlers Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy beat the English 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.

Ranked 10th in the world, the Indians beat the world number duo 21-17, 21-19 in a 44-minute 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 top-ranked Indonesian team of Marcus Gideon Fernaldi and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo and world number three 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 three-game 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.

In London Olympics, Ashwini Ponnappa and Jwala Gutta too had endured a similar fate when they bowed out after the points won and lost were considered after they tied with the other two pairs in the group stage.

The comments posted here/below/in the given space are not on behalf of Onmanorama. The person posting the comment will be in sole ownership of its responsibility. According to the central government's IT rules, obscene or offensive statement made against a person, religion, community or nation is a punishable offense, and legal action would be taken against people who indulge in such activities.