Badminton: Injury withdrawals affect Lakshya Sen and Sat-Chi at Paris Olympics 2024

Paris: India's Lakshya Sen returns a shot during the Men's Singles Group stage badminton match against Guatemala's Kevin Cordon at the Summer Olympics 2024, in Paris, Saturday, July 27, 2024. (PTI Photo/Ravi Choudhary)

India’s Satwik-Chirag have faced a similar setback to Lakshya Sen, as their second group match scheduled for Monday, 29 July, has been cancelled. The cancellation follows the withdrawal of Mark Lamsfuss and Marvin Seidel from the competition, with Lamsfuss suffering a knee injury. Consequently, Satwik-Chirag’s result for this match will now be deemed null and void.

The Badminton World Federation (BWF) announced on Monday morning that Lamsfuss would not be competing and extended their wishes for his speedy recovery. This withdrawal also affects the French pair Lucas Corvee and Ronan Labar, as their match against the German duo has also been declared void.

“German men’s doubles player Mark Lamsfuss has withdrawn from the Olympic Games Paris 2024 badminton competition due to a knee injury,” stated the BWF. “Lamsfuss and teammate Marvin Seidel’s remaining Group C matches against India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty (Court 3, 8.30am local time, 29 July 2024) and Lucas Corvee/Ronan Labar of France (Court 1, ‘Not Before’ 2.50pm local time, 30 July 2024) will not be played.”

“The results of all matches played, or yet to be played, involving Group C are now considered null and void,” the BWF’s statement continued.

https://t.co/Gh28E92bDOpic.twitter.com/AIph48SEGJ — BWF (@bwfmedia) July 28, 2024

Lakshya Sen is particularly affected, as his win over Kevin Cordon was annulled following Cordon’s withdrawal due to injury. This leaves Lakshya in a difficult position: with Cordon's exit and the BWF’s decision, Lakshya will be the only player in his group to have played three matches, while Jonatan Christie and Julien Carraggi will each have only two matches. Lakshya’s next match is against Carraggi on 29 July.

For Satwik-Chirag, the situation is somewhat more favourable, as they benefit from an extra rest day and can concentrate on their next game to secure qualification. The top two pairs in the doubles will advance, whereas, in Lakshya's case, only the group leader progresses to the next round.

India will also have medal prospects on Monday, with Arjun Babuta and Ramita Jindal competing in the men’s and women’s 10m air rifle events.

(With Agency Inputs)