China Open: Satwik-Chirag pair loses in first round

The Indian pair lost to the 13th-seeded Indonesian duo of Muhammad Shohibul Fikri and Maulana Bagas 17-21, 21-11, 17-21 in an hour and eight minutes game

Changzhou: Star Indian men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty suffered an opening-round defeat in the China Open Super 1000 badminton tournament, here on Wednesday.

The Indian pair, ranked two in the world, lost to the 13th-seeded Indonesian duo of Muhammad Shohibul Fikri and Maulana Bagas 17-21, 21-11, 17-21 in an hour and eight minutes game. The pair’s opening-round loss marked the end of the India’s challenge as none of the shuttlers from the country advanced to the second round of the Super 1000 tournament.

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After losing the opening game 17-21, the Indian pair bounced back and forced the decider by pocketing the second game 21-11. In the decider, the Indonesian pair didn’t let the Indians settle as they wrapped up match with three match points, 21-17.

This is the second time this year that the Indonesians have defeated the Satwik-Chirag after beating the Indians in Thailand Open’s pre-quarterfinals in June and Malaysia Open in January. The Indian duo has been in an impressive form this season, having clinched three titles Swiss Open Super 300, Korea Open, and the Indonesia Open, their maiden Super 1000 title.

Earlier in the day, the mixed doubles pair of Sikki Reddy and Rohan Kapoor too crashed out of the tournament after going down to the Malaysian duo of Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei 15-21, 16-21 in the first round.

On Tuesday, world championship bronze medalist HS Prannoy suffered the first-round loss at the hands of Malaysian Ng Tze Yong in three games 12-21, 21-13, 18-21. Lakshya Sen, Commonwealth Games champion, was also eliminated from the competition in the opening round after falling to recent world bronze medalist Anders Antonsen of Denmark 21-23, 21-16, and 9-2.

Ace shuttlers PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth had withdrawn ahead of the tournament, with an eye on the upcoming Asian Games.