India’s men's doubles badminton pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty qualified for the quarter-finals at the Paris Olympics with one group match in hand after the withdrawal of a pair and another losing on Monday.
The world No. 3 Indian pair was scheduled to meet the German duo of Mark Lamsfuss and Marvin Seidel on Monday in what was supposed to be their second Group C match, but it was cancelled following the withdrawal of Lamsfuss due to injury.
As per the BWF General Competition Regulations for group-stage play, the results of all matches played, or yet to be played, involving Lamsfuss and Seidel will be considered "deleted". Any points from matches played against the Germans will not be counted.
As a result, the Group C of the men's doubles competition will be considered as a three-pair affair, the teams of Lucas Corvee and Ronan Labar of France and Muhammad Rian Ardianto and Fajar Alfian of Indonesia being the other two.
Asian Games champions Satwik-Chirag and the Indonesian pair won a match each -- both against Frenchmen Corvee and Labar, who are now eliminated after two defeats.
Since two teams each from the four groups qualify for the quarter-finals, the Satwik-Chirag and Ardianto-Alfian pairs are through to the quarter-finals.
On Tuesday, Satwik-Chirag meet Ardianto-Alfian to decide who tops the group.
The draw for the knock-out round of the men's doubles will be held on Wednesday.
Earlier, the BWF announced the withdrawal of the German duo of Lamsfuss and Seidel from the competition.
"German men's doubles player Mark Lamsfuss has withdrawn from the Olympic Games Paris 2024 badminton competition due to a knee injury," the BWF said.
"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 Laaiod bar of France (Court 1, 'Not Before' 2.50pm local time, 30 July 2024) will not be played," it added.
Due to the withdrawal of the German pair, the Indonesians' win over Lamsfuss and Seidel on Saturday was also deleted.
Satwik and Chairag opened their campaign with a 21-17, 21-14 win over the French combination of Corvee and Labar on Saturday.
