Satwik-Chirag’s Olympic Match Cancelled: In a different way, injury withdrawals in men’s badminton at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris have affected the Indian contingent’s group-stage draw. While Lakshya Sen of Guatemala was left in a vulnerable position in Group L of the singles draw following the “deletion” of his straight-game victory in his Olympic debut due to Kevin Cordon’s withdrawal due to an elbow injury, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, in the men’s doubles category, avoided a similar fate following their opponent’s injury withdrawal on Monday.
The third-ranked doubles team in the world was scheduled to play Germany’s Mark Lamsfuss and Marvin Seide in their second Olympic group match in Paris. But after Lamsfuss suffered a knee injury on Tuesday, the latter pulled out of the draw. After wishing Lamsfuss a quick recovery in a statement regarding the injuries, BWF announced that the outcome of Satwik-Chirag’s second encounter will now be deemed void.
Due to a knee injury, German badminton player Mark Lamsfuss has withdrawn from the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024. The remaining Group C matches for Lamsfuss and teammate Marvin Seidel are scheduled to be played against Lucas Corvee/Ronan Labar of France (Court 1, “Not Before,” 2.50pm local time, July 30, 2024) and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty of India (Court 3, 8.30am local time, July 29, 2024).
“Matches on these courts have been rescheduled for the corresponding session. The BWF statement stated, “The results of all matches played, or yet to be played, involving in Group C are now considered deleted, in accordance with BWF General Competition Regulations for group stage play.”
The current Asian Games winners, Satwik-Chirag, are in a favourable position in the group as a result of the injury withdrawal. In a Group C match earlier on Saturday, the Indian duo defeated the French team of Lucas Corvee and Ronan Labar 21-17 21-14. This suggests that Satwik-Chirag would advance to the quarterfinals automatically if Lucas and Ronan fall to the Indonesian duo of Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto in their group-stage match on Monday.
This is not the same as what happened to Lakshya earlier on Sunday after Cordon, whom he defeated in the Group L match on Saturday 21-8, 22-20, withdrew from the Games. In accordance with the group stage play BWF General Competition Regulations, the outcome of that match was eliminated. This suggests that the Indian shuttler’s ranking will now be determined by the outcomes of his two remaining Group L matches. On Monday, he will face Julien Carraggi next.
