Paris Olympics: Indian women's doubles campaign in trouble as Ponnappa-Crasto suffer 2nd loss

Paris: India's campaign in women's doubles badminton at the Paris Olympics 2024 came under serious trouble as the pair of Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa were defeated by the world number four pair of Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida of Japan on Monday.
Crasto and Ponnappa lost to the world number four pair by 11-21, 12-21 in a one-sided second Group C clash.
Earlier, the Indian pair had conceded a defeat in their campaign opener as well. They lost by straight sets against the Republic of Korea's Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong. So Yeong-Hee Yong beat the Indian duo 21-18, 21-10. The game lasted for 46 minutes.
Indian Commonwealth Games champion and World Championship medalist Lakshya Sen will take on Belgium's Julien Carragi in their Group L match at 5:30 PM.
Sen's qualification chances faced a serious setback as his dominating win over Guatemala's Kevin Cordon in the badminton men's singles Group L match at the Olympics was 'deleted after the Guatemalan pulled out of the multi-sport event due to a left elbow injury.
According to Olympics.com, Cordon withdrew himself from the ongoing Paris Olympics for which his upcoming Group L matches against Indonesia's Jonatan Christie and Belgium's Julien Carraggi will not be played.
As per the Badminton World Federation (BWF) General Competition Regulations for group stage play, the result from the match between Lakshya Sen and Kevin Cordon was deleted. The Indian shuttler will be ranked based on the results of his remaining two matches in Group L.
The star Indian men's doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty 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As per a statement from the Badminton World Federation (BWF), Mark Lamsfuss has withdrawn from the Olympic Games Paris 2024 badminton competition due to a knee injury.
"Lamsfuss' and teammate Marvin Seidel's remaining Group C matches against India's Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty (Court 3, 8.30am local time, 29 July 2024) and Lucas Corvee/Ronan Labar of France (Court 1, 'Not Before' 2.50pm local time, 30 July 2024) will not be played. Matches on these courts in each respective session have been rescheduled. As per BWF General Competition Regulations for group stage play, the results of all matches played, or yet to be played, involving in Group C are now considered deleted," added the statement.
'Sat-Chi' started their Paris Olympics voyage with a win over France's Lucas Corvee and Ronan Labar 21-17, 21-14 in the men's doubles Group C match on Saturday.
Satwiksairaj and Chirag defeated Lucas Corvee and Ronan Labar in a straight games and ended the match in 46 minutes.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty were supposed to lock horns with world number 31 and 2022 European Badminton men's doubles champions Marvin and Mark, but an injury has led to the cancellation of the match.
Satwiksairaj and Chirag's next opponents will be the Indonesian pair of Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto on Tuesday. This match will be a must win for the Indian duo as it is their last game before the quarterfinals.
The Indonesian duo was formerly a number one pair and is currently ranked seven. Both secured world championship bronze medals in the 2019 and 2022 editions of the competition and were also a part of the 2020 Thomas Cup winning Indonesian team.
Both of these teams have clashed five times, with the Indian pair having a slight edge with three wins and two losses. In their recent clash at the Korean Open 2023 final, Sat-Chi had prevailed.