Ashwini Ponappa-Tanisha Crasto pair loses to Japan’s Shida-Matsuyama, their second consecutive defeat stares at early exit

Ashwini Ponappa and Tanisha Crasto faced their second group stage defeat in the women's doubles badminton competition as the Japanese Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida secured victory in straight sets (11-21,12-21) at the Paris Olympics 2024 on Monday.

The Indian duo had no answers for the dominant pair of Matsuyama and Shida. The Japanese duo started well, taking the game from the beginning, building a six-point lead in the first set to which India had no response, and the game started titling in a lopsided way. The disheartened Indian pair, who had already lost their first game against South Korea's Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong by 18-221 have now lost another game, now they are likely to be eliminated.
 

In the Group C match that went on for 48 minutes, the world-ranked four Japanese pairs comfortably defeated India through their coordination, power, and placement. Both Crasto and Ponnappa tried to bring themselves back into the game by fighting in the middle of it, but the Indian pair was quick to counter and read their game accordingly. What made things worse for India was the injury to Crasto. She needed medical attention, worsening the situation for India and Crasto.
 

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After their consecutive losses, the Indian pair is now ranked third in the group. Each group’s top two will advance to the quarterfinals. In their last group match, Ponappa and Crasto will face off against Setyana Mapasa and Angela Yu from Australia. The disadvantage for the Indian pair seems to be the matchup they were put in , both their first matches were against top-ranked players.

“A bit disappointed because this was the only shot we had for a chance to get to the quarters. Not the way we wanted to play but they were very strong. I wish we had given them a better fight. We have more match and hope we can win that” Ponappa said after the game.

“There’s a lot to take away. It builds my confidence as we are playing at such a high level and giving fight to every pair. It takes a lot of courage and confidence to play here in front of so many people. It’s not over for us yet, hopefully, we will be able to pull through” Crasto said after the loss.

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