Paris Olympics 2024 Badminton: Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa go down fighting in opening match

The Indian women’s badminton doubles pair Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa fought hard but were defeated by the World No. 8 pair of Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong from South Korea in their opening group stage match at the Paris Olympics 2024.

The first set began with both pairs engaged in a see-saw battle. The Koreans managed to pull ahead, but the Indians fought back, playing some incredibly aggressive and attacking badminton, trailing only 8-11 during the interval. Despite their efforts to close the gap to 10-11, a series of unforced errors allowed the Koreans to extend their lead to 17-11.

Crasto and Ponnappa displayed immense resilience, engaging in long rallies, with Tanisha diving across the court and Ashwini executing powerful smashes. Their spirited comeback saw them close the gap, but they eventually lost the set narrowly, 18-21.

The second set saw the Koreans take an early lead, capitalizing on several unforced errors by the Indians to race ahead to 10-2. Although Crasto and Ponnappa showed flashes of resurgence in their several attempts at a comeback, they were unable to find a consistent breakthrough. They ended up going down 10-21 in the second game.

Crasto and Ponnappa will now turn their focus to their upcoming group-stage matches. On July 29 at 12:50 PM IST, they will face the Japanese pair of Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida. Following this, they will take on Australia's Setyana Mapasa and Angela Yu on July 30 at 6:20 PM IST.

Only the top two pairs from each group qualify, and to remain in contention for a place in the quarterfinals, the Indian duo must win both their remaining matches.

Lakshya Sen and men's doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy & Chirag Shetty start Paris Olympics 2024 campaign with wins

Earlier today, Indian men's singles shuttler Lakshya Sen delivered a thrilling straight-game victory over Kevin Cordon. Sen dominated the opening set with a decisive 21-8 win and clinched the second set 22-20 to secure his victory.

In the men's doubles, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also emerged victorious in their group stage match, defeating the French pair Lucas Corvee and Ronan Labar with scores of 21-17, 21-14.