Indian shuttlers duo Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty got off to a winning start in the ongoing Paris Olympics 2024 at the La Chapelle Arena Court 1 on July 27 on Saturday. The World's number one duo beat Frenchmen Lucas Corvee and Ronan Labar 21-17, 21-14 in their opening group stage match.
Satwik and Chirag will face Mark Lamsfuss and Marvin Seidel of Germany in their second match on Monday.
The French pair gave a tough fight to the Indians in the first game but Satwik and Chirag imposed themselves on their opponents in the second game, winning most of the rallies in the match that lasted 45 minutes.
Earlier, India Olympics debutant Lakshya Sen also clinched a dominating win against Tokyo Games semifinalist Kevin Cordon of Guatemala. The 22-year-old Sen won 21-8 22-20 against reigning Pan American champion Cordon in the contest that lasted 42 minutes.
Sen, a gold medallist at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and bronze winner at 2021 World Championships, will face Julien Carraggi of Belgium in his second group match on Monday.
Despite Cordon's good comeback in the second game, Sen held his nerves and emerged the winner to begin his campaign on a resounding note. Sen pocketed the first game in just 14 minutes. He straightaway took a 5-0 lead and was 11-2 ahead at the first change of ends. There was no let up from the Indian as he wrapped up the first match without much resistance from his opponent.
Cordon fought back in the second game and was 6-2 ahead after a fine net play. The Indian closed the gap at 6-8 after a nice smash. But Sen was more error-prone in the second game than in the first, and trailed 7-12 at the change of ends.
The Guatemalan kept himself ahead, winning more rallies than Sen. At 20-16, he was just one point away from taking the match to the deciding game. With the legendary Prakash Padukone and Vimal Kumar guiding him from the court corner, Sen saved his best for the last and he reeled off four straight points to level the scores 20-20, and then, won another two points to seal the match.
With PTI inputs
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