India at Olympics 2021: 3 reasons why Chirag Shetty-Satwiksairaj Rankireddy lost against top seeds from Indonesia

After stunning World No. 3 pair from Chinese Taipei on Saturday, expectations were high from Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy in the Tokyo Olympics.

However, Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj could not repeat their previous match’s magical display and lost 13-21, 12-21 against the World No. 1 pair of Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sukamuljo.

Top seeds Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sukamuljo of Indonesia needed only 32 minutes to extend their dominance over the World No. 10 Indian pair.

Despite the defeat, Chirag and Satwiksairaj can still make it to the knock-outs from tough Group A as one of the top two teams. The Indian duo will now take on England’s Sean Vendy and Ben Lane on Tuesday. The pair of Chirag and Satwik will have to beat them to qualify for the quarter-finals.

The Medal Tally for Tokyo 2020 is out now. Check out the Tokyo Olympics Medal Tally.

1. Playing back-to-back top opponents proved too much for Chirag and Satwiksairaj

It was not easy to play the top two pairs of the world in a short span of two days and it reflected on their performance on Monday. Chirag and Satwik gave their best, particularly at the start of the encounter, but as the match progressed they found the top seeds too hot to handle.

Kevin Sukamuljo was outstanding on the front court, while Fernaldi Gideon served brilliantly. The Indian pair were not allowed to play their natural attacking style of badminton.

The Indonesian duo are known for their perfection in the short game. They are quite good at flats and like to keep the shuttle down at all times. Had the Indians opened the game a little bit and finished the rallies with smashes they could have troubled the Indonesians.

Chirag and Satwik were not allowed to open the game and create opportunities where they could wrap up the points with smashes. The Indonesians did not allow the shuttle to rise much and managed to keep it down which failed to create any openings for Chirag-Satwik.

2. Chirag and Satwiksairaj had a mental block against the Indonesians

Chirag and Satwik shocked World No. 3 pair from Chinese Taipei Lee Yang and Wang Chi-Lin in the opener. The Indian combination has registered victories against almost all the opponents who are in the world’s top 10 rankings.

However, Chirag and Satwik always found Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sukamuljo a tough nut to crack. In their eight previous encounters, the Indonesians managed to beat the Indians every single time. On a couple of occasions, Chirag and Satwik did stretch their opponents to three games but could not deliver the knock-out punch.

Kevin Sukamuljo is perhaps the most exciting player in the men's doubles category and he did no harm to his reputation with an excellent performance on Monday. Kevin’s returns and interceptions were totally exceptional and disturbed the strategy of the Indians.

3. Chirag’s injury in the first game made matters worse for the Indian duo

The Indians were trying their best to match their fancied opponents. Although the pair of Chirag and Satwik were trailing by a few points in the first game, they were still within a touching distance to stage a comeback.

However, a toe injury to Chirag made the matter worse for the Indians. They became a little bit cautious and failed to reproduce their display from the clash against the Chinese Taipei players on Saturday.

However, the Indians did a smart thing by not giving their all towards the end of the match. When they realized that they don’t have any chance to beat the formidable Indonesian pair they did not stretch the match.

Instead they decided to preserve their energy for their next match on Tuesday. The pair of Chirag and Satwik figured they would have a better chance of beating the English pair to qualify for the all-important quarter-final stage. Smart decision in the middle of an intense Olympic match!