PV Sindhu’s dream shattered by He; Satwik-Chirag come unstuck against Chia-Soh; Lakshya Sen remains sole medal hope for India

Indian shuttlers face disappointment at Olympics as PV Sindhu falls short, Lakshya Sen advances, and Satwik-Chirag pair exits.

It was a day of massive disappointment for India on the badminton courts of the Olympics at the Porte de La Chapelle arena here on Thursday.

Two-time medallist P.V. Sindhu’s dream of a historic third medal remained unfulfilled while a strong medal hope, the Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty pair, could not rise to the expectations.

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Lakshya Sen, who defeated compatriot H.S. Prannoy to enter the quarterfinals, was the only Indian shuttler left in the medal race.

World No.13 Lakshya dispatched the 22nd-placed Prannoy 21-12, 21-6 in a one-sided match.

Lakshya rode on some fine smashes and Prannoy’s mistakes to have a five-point cushion at the break and built on it to take the first game.

The 22-year-old Lakshya banked on his better fitness to unleash some unplayable shots while a tiring Prannoy, who was down with chikungunya a few weeks back, committed unforced errors before bowing out.