Indian Men’s Doubles Pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty Suffer First-Round Defeat in China Open

Indian Men’s Doubles Pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty Suffer First-Round Defeat in China Open

The star Indian men’s doubles badminton pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty faced a disappointing opening-round loss at the China Open Super 1000 tournament.

Ranked second in the world, the Indian duo was defeated by the 13th-seeded Indonesian pair of Muhammad Shohibul Fikri and Maulana Bagas in a closely contested match lasting an hour and eight minutes. The final scoreline read 17-21, 21-11, 17-21 in favor of the Indonesian pair.

This loss marked the end of India’s campaign at the tournament, as no Indian shuttlers managed to advance to the second round of the Super 1000 event.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty had been in impressive form this season, securing three titles, including their maiden Super 1000 title at the Indonesia Open. However, they were unable to replicate their success in this tournament.

The Indian pair started well by winning the opening game 21-17, but the Indonesian duo bounced back strongly in the second game, winning it 21-11. The decider was closely contested, but the Indonesian pair managed to secure the victory with a scoreline of 21-17.

This marked the second time this year that Muhammad Shohibul Fikri and Maulana Bagas have defeated Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, having previously beaten them in the Thailand Open and Malaysia Open.

In addition to the men’s doubles pair, the mixed doubles pair of Sikki Reddy and Rohan Kapoor also exited the tournament after losing to the Malaysian duo of Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei with a scoreline of 15-21, 16-21 in the first round.

On the previous day, HS Prannoy and Lakshya Sen were also eliminated from the competition in the opening round. PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth had withdrawn from the tournament in preparation for the upcoming Asian Games.