A dejected Chirag Shetty was searching for solace in national coach Pullela Gopichand’s arm, the latter still trying to fathom what hit the badminton contingent, while doubles coach Mathias Boe was consoling an emotional Satwiksairaj Rankireddy.

There was disbelief at Porte de La Chapelle Arena.

The Asian Games and Commonwealth Games champions, the famed duo of Satwik and Chirag — known as the SatChi — had just bowed out of the Paris Olympic Games, losing to the Malaysian pair of Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik 21-13, 14-21, 16-21.

They were expected to win a medal — gold many had predicted — but on Thursday were given a lesson in badminton by the Malaysians.

Going into the quarter-final clash, Aaron and Soh had a better head-to-head record against the Indians. Of the 11 meetings, the Malaysians had won eight. The Indians, seeded third here, were drawing inspiration from their last three match-ups which they won.

The first game gave the impression that Satwik and Chirag will blow away their rivals. But that was not to be. The Malaysians changed their strategy second game onwards.

Knowing well that their rivals are vulnerable when not given much lift, Aaron and Soh started playing flat. Satwik and Chirag had no anwser to that.

“Maybe we gave away quite a few easy points. A few lucky ones for them, where we didn’t really expect those serves. They kept poking us slightly. Towards the end, there were a couple of points that hit the net chord and a few one-two errors,” Chirag said.

“I think, for us, they were the hardest ones because we lost in the last few meetings,” was Aaron’s take.

The Malaysians picked out Chirag as the fragile one and continuously targeted him. Satwik did not buy the idea that Chirag was nervous.

“We have dealt big, big matches. It’s on the mental side not to take so much on to the court,” he said.

In the second game, the Indians won just five points with service against the Malaysians’ 11. In the third, the Indians had eight, while the eventual winners had 13.

“We should have been a little more calmer in those situations,” Chirag, who also made a judgement error against an Aaron service in the deciding game, conceded.

He refused to see the setback as the end of the world. “Disappointed, yes. But there’s always the next time. We’ll go back, introspect what needs to be done, and will come
back stronger.”