Indian Men’s Doubles pair Satwik-Chirag suffers first-round loss in China Open

In the China Open Super 1000 badminton tournament, the star Indian men’s doubles pair comprising Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty faced a disappointing first-round exit. They were defeated by the 13th-seeded Indonesian duo of Muhammad Shohibul Fikri and Maulana Bagas with a score of 17-21, 21-11, 17-21 in a closely contested match lasting an hour and eight minutes.

This loss signaled the end of India’s challenge in the tournament, as none of the Indian shuttlers managed to advance to the second round.

After losing the opening game 17-21, the Indian duo made a strong comeback by winning the second game 21-11, forcing a decisive third game. However, in the final game, the Indonesian pair did not allow the Indians to settle and secured the match with a 21-17 victory.

Notably, this marks the second time this year that the Indonesian pair has defeated Satwik-Chirag, having previously beaten them in the pre-quarterfinals of the Thailand Open in June and the Malaysia Open in January.

Satwik-Chirag have had an impressive season, clinching three titles including the Swiss Open Super 300, Korea Open, and the Indonesia Open, which marked their first Super 1000 title.

In other results from the tournament, the mixed doubles pair of Sikki Reddy and Rohan Kapoor also exited the competition after a first-round defeat to the Malaysian pair of Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei, with a score of 15-21, 16-21.

On the previous day, world championship bronze medalist HS Prannoy suffered a first-round loss against Malaysia’s Ng Tze Yong in three games with scores of 12-21, 21-13, 18-21. Commonwealth Games champion Lakshya Sen was also eliminated in the opening round after losing to recent world bronze medalist Anders Antonsen of Denmark with scores of 21-23, 21-16, and 9-2.

India’s top shuttlers, PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth, had withdrawn from the tournament in preparation for the upcoming Asian Games.

-IANS