Paris Olympics: Contenders Satwik-Chirag, Lakshya Sen make confident start

Medal contenders Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty signalled their intention with an easy straight-game victory in their opening group stage men's doubles match after singles ace Lakshya Sen got his maiden Olympic campaign underway on a winning note in Paris on Saturday, 27 July.

The women's doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto, however, lost to South Koreans Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong 18-21 10-21 in a 44-minute Group C league match.

The third-seeded men's doubles duo of Satwik-Chirag, the reigning Asian Games champions, notched up a 21-17 21-14 win against the French pair of Lucas Corvee and Ronan Labar in a Group C contest while Sen beat Tokyo edition semifinalist Kevin Cordon of Guatemala 21-8 22-20 in a Group C match of the men's singles.

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.

The 22-year-old Sen won 21-8 22-20 against reigning Pan American champion Cordon in his Olympics debut match 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 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 game 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. He was just one point away from taking the match to the deciding game, leading 20-16.

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 in his favour.