Badminton
Olympics 2024: Satwik-Chirag to face Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik in quarters
If Satwik-Chirag get better of Chia and Soh, they are likely to run into Liang and Wang in the semis. Liang and Wang have been pitted against Fajar and Ardianto.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will face off against Aaron Chia and Sooh Wooyik of Malaysia in the quarterfinals of Paris Olympics. (Photo credit: Badminton Photo/BWF)
India's top men's doubles pairing of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag have been pitted against their arch-rivals Aarn Chia and Soh Wooi Yik of Malaysia in the quarterfinals of the Paris Olympics on Wednesday.
Satwik-Chirag topped Group C after winning their matches in straight games.
Chia-Soh, on the other hand, finished second in Group A behind the top-seeded Chinese pairing of Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang.
Satwik-Chirag and Chia-Soh are fierce rivals, with the Indian duo unbeaten against the unseeded Malaysians since June 2023.
Head-to-Head
Satwik and Chirag beat Chia and Soh for the first time at the Indonesia Open Super 1000 final after an eight-match losing streak against the Malaysian duo.
Since then, the former World No. 1 Indian pair beat them at the Asian Games semifinal, and then in the semifinal of the India Open this year.
Such has been the domination of the Indian duo they beat Chia and Soh in straight games on all three occasions.
Form guide
Satwik-Chirag beat Lucas Corvee-Ronan Labar of France 21-17, 21-14 and World No. 7 Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto 21-13, 21-13 to top their group at the ongoing Paris Olympics.
Chia and Soh, on the other hand, recovered from a scare to beat Sean Vendy and Bane Lane 19-21, 21-16, 21-11 in their first match.
In their second outing, they won in straight games (21-10, 21-15) against Canada's Nyl Yakura and Adam Dong.
In their final group game, they succumbed to a straight-game (24-22, 21-14) defeat to Liang and Wang following a close opening game.
Satwik-Chirag's possible semifinal clash
If Satwik-Chirag get better of Chia and Soh, they are likely to run into Liang and Wang in the semifinals, who have been pitted against Fajar and Ardianto.
In the other half of the men's doubles quarterfinal draw, the second-seeded Dane pairing of Kim Astrup and Anders Rasmussen will face fourth-seed Kang Min Hyuk and Seo Seung Jae of South Korea.
Supak Jomkoh and Kedren Kittinupong of Thailand will face Lee Wang and Wang Chi-Lin of Chinese Taipei in the fourth quarterfinal at Paris 2024.
