'Tried to become Indian cricket team' - Fans troll Chirag Shetty recalling his 'Rohit-SKY' remarks after Olympic fiasco

Star Indian badminton player Chirag Shetty found himself at the centre of social media backlash after he and his partner, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, were knocked out in the quarterfinals of the Men’s doubles event at the Paris Olympics.

Despite their previous strong record against their Malaysian opponents, Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik, the Indian duo was unable to secure a victory, losing 21-13, 14-21, 16-21. This defeat not only ended their Olympic journey but also reignited criticism against Chirag Shetty for his earlier comments comparing the Thomas Cup win to India's T20 World Cup victory.

The match was a rollercoaster, with the Indians initially dominating the first game, taking it 21-13. However, the Malaysians clawed their way back in the second game, levelling the match with a 21-14 win.

The decider was a tense affair, but it was Chia and Yik who held their nerve to close out the game 21-16, thereby advancing to the semifinals. The loss was particularly disappointing given the Indian pair’s favourable head-to-head record against their Malaysian counterparts, including three consecutive victories leading up to this encounter.

What had Chirag Shetty said?

Chirag’s earlier remarks had already stirred controversy when he expressed disappointment over not receiving recognition from the state government after India’s historic Thomas Cup victory. He had stated that winning the Thomas Cup was akin to India winning the T20 World Cup and lamented the lack of official acknowledgement for his contribution to badminton.

While his comments were intended to highlight the disparity in recognition between cricket and other sports, they were met with mixed reactions at the time. Following the Olympic loss, the criticism against Chirag resurfaced, with many fans taking to social media to troll the shuttler.

Some accused him of overestimating his achievements, while others mocked his failure to deliver on the big stage. The backlash reflects the immense pressure and scrutiny that athletes face, especially when they speak out on issues that challenge the status quo.

Here are some reactions:

I just can’t with overly optimistic 🇮🇳 fans! We all respect our athletes but can’t we expect a win from them? Rather than crying that we lost to world champions, we lost to chinese, japanese and what not??? Stop getting satisfied with mid results

— Karan (@stfukarran) August 1, 2024

Bhai Indian mindset hai



"We celebrate mediocrity."



That's why rather than asking questions ki why we lost,



We came up with excuses like " Chinese, world champions, Japanese"



We always come up with excuses and satisfy our ego.



End of story

— Aryan Yadav (@aryan_iitr) August 1, 2024

Agle olympics me cricket aur jab hum usme bhi quarter final me haar jaenge to log kya cricketers ko ese hi support karenge?

— Chandan Sinha (@cksinha) August 1, 2024

Bro all are happy with 3 bronze https://t.co/LpSUpaa8ru about standards.

— Prasun (@Prasun8712) August 1, 2024

This is not over optimism we are following our sports (tt for more than 10 years. The progress we've made is really amazing if you are talking about table tennis this is all post 2019 effort with a big covid period in between. Dont just read news articles and pass judgments.

— Maverick (@Marevicko) August 1, 2024

We need to stop getting proud of being top 16. Great fightbacks and all that was good 25-30 years ago when there was very low support and resources from govt/pvt sector. Today they have better resources. We can expect better results as well. Mediocre pride brings mediocre results

— Kunal Roy (@RoyKunal1989) August 1, 2024

No seriously they lost today when it mattered most and the fact that they gave their second set away like the way they did? Unacceptable. They were easily winning second set too and then such errors?

— ReRich (@RichaSikes) August 1, 2024