India’s unseeded shuttler Lakshya Sen ended Jonatan Christie’s men’s singles Olympic journey with an upset 21-18, 21-12 win in the Group L tie to storm into the Round of 16 of the Paris 2024 Olympic competition.
The win however pits Sen against compatriot Prannoy H.S. in the bottom half of the draw, which saw all but two unseeded players advancing into the Round of 16.
Home hero Toma Junior Popov was the other surprise inclusion who secured his place after dispatching Indonesia’sAnthony Sinisuka Ginting 21-19, 17-21, 21-15 to join Christie on the flight home.
Popov now faces Malaysia’s seventh seed Lee Zii Jia who on paper has a 4-0 head-to-head advantage over the former.
For a full draw of men’s singles, click: https://olympics.bwfbadminton.com/results/4752/paris-2024-olympic-games-badminton-competition/draw/ms
Meanwhile, the mixed doubles action gets hotter with the semifinal stage taking place on Friday, with Korea assured of at least a silver medal following an all-Korean semifinal encounter between Seo Seung Jae/Chae Yu Jung and Kim Won Ho/Jeong Na Eun.
Seo/Chae had downed Hong Kong China’s Tang Chun Man/Tse Ying Suet 21-15, 21-10 in today’s quarterfinals whileKim/Jeong ended Malaysian pair Chen tang Jie/Toh Ee Wei’s Olympic journey with a 21-19, 21-14 win in 41 minutes.
China’s top seed Zheng Si Wei/Huang Ya Qiong as expected stormed into the last four after brushing aside fellow countrymate Feng Yan Zhe 21-16, 21-15 to set up a semifinal clash against Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist Yuta Watanabe/Arisa Higashino, who had earlier beaten Thai medal hopeful Dechapol Puavaranukroh/Sapsiree Teerattanachai 23-21, 21-14.
All eyes will also be on the men’s doubles quarterfinal action which gets underway on Thursday with top seed Liang Weng Keng/Wang Chan of China taking on Indonesia’s best bet Fajar Alfian/Rian Ardianto.
With previous meeting records on their sides, can Malaysia’s fourth seed pair Aaron Chia/Sooh Wooi Yik extend their 7-2 head-to-head record over India’s in-form pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty?
The bottom half of the men’s doubles encounters will see sole Europe’s hopeful Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen of Denmark taking on Korean top pair Kang Min Hyuk/Seo Seung Jae with head-to-head record levelled at 1-1.
Meanwhile, reigning Olympic champion Lee Yang/Wang Chi-Lin, with a head-to-head record of 5 wins over Thailand’sSupak Jomkoh/Kittinupong Kedren, remained as the top favourites to last four after completing their Group D campaign.
The women’s doubles Thursday’s quarterfinal clashes are also heading to be an explosive affair with four encounters scheduled from 8.30 am Paris time.
For a full schedule, click: https://olympics.bwfbadminton.com/results/4752/paris-2024-olympic-games-badminton-competition/2024-08-01
