Paris 2024 Badminton: Satwik-Chirag Become First Indian Doubles Pair to Reach Olympics Quarter-Final

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Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty created history as the duo became the first Indian badminton doubles pair to reach the quarter-finals round at the Olympics. The Indian duo reach the knockouts in their second Olympic appearance.

Satwik-Chirag confirmed their place in the last eight of the Paris Olympics 2024 on Monday (July 29) after Lucas Corvee-Ronan Labar of France conceded lost to Indonesia's Muhammad Rian Ardianto-Fajar Alfian in Group C.

The reigning Asian Games and Commonwealth Games champions had exited from the group stage in their maiden Oympics appearance in Tokyo 2020 despite finishing level on points and number of wins, but lost out on a last eight spot due to point difference.

Coming back to Paris 2024, following the French pair's second loss in the group, the Indian duo as well as the Indonesian pair of Alfian and Ardianto booked their spots in the quarter-final even before they meet in the final group stage match on Tuesday (July 30).

Rankireddy and Shetty had started started their Paris Olympics campaign with a win over the French duo of Corvee and Labrar by a scoreline of 21-17, 21-14 in the men's doubles Group C match on Saturday (July 27).

The Indian pair will be hoping to continue with their winning momentum at the Paris Olympics, despite their second Group C match against Germany's Marvin Seidel and Mark Lamsfuss being cancelled due to Mark facing a knee injury, making their third game a must-win one.

As per a statement from Badminton World Federation (BWF), Mark Lamsfuss has withdrawn from the Olympic Games Paris 2024 badminton competition due to a knee injury.

Both the Indian and Indonesian pairs will still aim for wins which could seal them a top spot in the group, which guarantees a meeting against a weaker opponent in the quarter-final. A win in the quarter-final assures the pair a medal.

The draw for the knockout stages will be made on Wednesday (July 31) with the last eight match scheduled to be held on Thursday (August 1) followed by the semi-final on Friday (August 2) or Saturday (August 3) and then the gold medal match on Sunday (August 4).