Chirag Shetty fit for next Olympic match: Indian badminton physio Sumansh

In a big relief to all the Indian badminton fans, Chirag Shetty is absolutely fine and fit to play the remaining matches in Tokyo Olympics.

Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy lost to the World No. 1 pair of Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo and Marcus Fernaldi Gideon 13-21, 12-21. The top seeds from Indonesia dominated the match to maintain their No. 1 position in the Group A standings.

Midway through the contest, Chirag Shetty went down with an injured toe nail and needed medical attention. Though 24-year-old was able to continue, the injury affected his movement on court.

There was concern among fans whether Chirag would be able to continue to play at his best in the crucial third and final league match on Tuesday.

However, Indian badminton team physiotherapist Sumansh Sivalanka clarified that Chirag is perfectly fine and there is no injury scare to him.

“There is no injury to Chirag Shetty. He is fit to play. In fact, all the Indian badminton team members are fine and fit to play,” said Sumansh Sivalanka.

Chirag and Satwiksairaj will now lock horns with British pair Ben Lane and Sean Vendy in their last group stage match. Lane and Vendy have lost both their league matches.

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We did not utilize a good start: Chirag Shetty

Chirag was clearly disappointed with the way they played against the Indonesians on Monday. He said they did not utilize a good start.

“We started well in both the first and second games. In the second, we had a key point leading 6-3 and we were on top, it was our point. But we somehow messed it up and they played well. From there we gave up some easy points and that frustrated us,” said Chirag after the match.

Satwiksairaj admitted they were outplayed and were unable to pick up service from the top seeds.

“They are steadier now than before. Their service was really brilliant today. We could not do anything about their service. We tried but we could not find a way and it’s the same story from before against them. We couldn’t find a way,” said Satwik.

The Indonesians must beat the World No. 3 Chinese Taipei duo Lee Yang and Wang Chi-Lin in their third and final match to make way clear for the Indians.

If the Chinese Taipei pair, who had never won against the Indonesians in their three previous meetings, managed to win then all three teams could finish with two wins each. If three teams end up with two wins each then they will count the number of games and if that doesn’t decide the qualifiers it will be down to the number of points.

Lee Yang and Wang Chi-Lin got the better of Ben Lane and Sean Vendy of Great Britain 21-17, 21-14 to post their first win of the competition.