Indian shuttlers Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty's dreams of securing a maiden Olympics medal came crashing down after a heartbreaking three-game loss to Malaysia's Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik in the men's doubles quarter-finals in Paris on Thursday.
One of the favourites for the gold medal, Satwik and Chirag, the reigning Asian Games and Commonwealth Games champions, squandered a first-game advantage and went down 21-13, 14-21, 16-21 in a hard-fought quarter-final against the world No. 3 Malaysians.
Aaron and Chia, the 2022 World champions and Tokyo Games bronze winners, will take on the world No. 1 and top seeded pair of Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang in the semi-finals.
The Indians entered the contest after registering three successive wins against the Malaysians in their last three meetings.
Aaron and Chia had defeated the Indians eight times on the trot before those victories but none would hurt more than this loss as it came on the world's biggest stage.
Expectations were high from the two Indians given the pair's domination with four final appearances and two titles at the French Open and Thailand Open this year.
Carrying a billion hope, Satwik and Chirag, the former world No. 1 pair, almost brutalised the Malaysians in the opening game with their aggressive display, but Aaron and Soh changed tactics thereafter, bunting their attack and playing a more flat-fast game. Some defensive lapses also cost the Indians dear.
It was a close affair as the two pairs moved from 5-5 to 10-10, with Satwik-Chirag dominating the short and snappy rallies early on. They not only peppered the former champions with booming smashes from the back but also dished out angled returns at a high pace.
Soon the Malaysians fell behind 12-17 as Chirag eventually pocketed the game.
In the second game, the Indians opened up 4-0 lead but it was again a neck-and-neck battle as the two pairs reached 10-10 before Aaron's smash gave the Malaysians a one-point cushion.
They started varying the serve and their flat fast game reaped dividends as they eked out a 16-12 lead, with Chirag making a judgement error and also spraying the 'bird' into net once.
Soon the Indians lagged 13-17. Satwik then floated one wide and another error at the net by Chirag gave the Malaysians six game points to the Malaysian before they sealed it at the first chance.
Aaron-Soh looked the better pair in the decider. The Indians tried to slow down the rallies but the Malaysians engaged them in flat and fast exchanges. Soon it was 14-14 and 16-16.
The Indians looked nervous as a variation of serve from Aaron bamboozled Chirag, who made a judgement error while receiving. He then failed to reach a low pick-up at the front court as Malaysians grabbed four match-points and sealed the contest when Satwik sprayed into the net.
