Tokyo Olympics: Shetty-Rankireddy succumb to world number 1 Indonesian pair in badminton doubles

The Tokyo Olympics has entered its Day 3, as the Indians continue to have a tough time in the competition. Meanwhile, in men's badminton doubles, the pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy lost to Indonesia's world number one pair.

Day 3 saw no relief for India on the performance front. In men's badminton doubles, the pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy went down to the world number one Indonesian pair of Marcus Gideon and Kevin Sukamuljo on Monday in straight sets (21-13, 21-12).

The Indonesian duo looked comfortable right from the start, as it won the opening set with ease. The second set was equally impressive for the Indonesians, as the Indian pair did not have an answer to its opponent's relentlessness and tactical flexibility.

"We started well in both the first and second games. In the second, we had a key point leading 6-3 and we were on top, it was our point, but we somehow messed it up and they played well, and from there we gave up some easy points and that frustrated us," said Shetty to Badminton World Federation following the loss.

Meanwhile, Satwik reckoned: "They are more steady now than before. Their service was really brilliant today. We couldn't do anything about their service. We tried but we couldn't find a way, and it's the same story from before against them. We couldn't find a way."

As of now, for the Indians, only female shuttler PV Sindhu has been off to a winning start, defeating Ksenia Polikarpova of Israel in straight sets (21-7, 21-10) in just 28 minutes on Sunday. India is not scheduled to compete in any more badminton events on Monday.

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