Indian shuttlers Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty advanced to the second round of the men’s doubles at the India Open Super 750 on Wednesday. The dynamic pair, ranked No.2 in the World rankings, demonstrated their skill and resilience in a hard-fought match against Fang-Chih Lee and Fang-Jen Lee of Chinese Taipei, clinching a 21-15, 19-21, 21-16 victory.
Satwik and Chirag, who finished runner-up at the Malaysia Super 1000 last week in Kuala Lumpur, looked sharp as they built a lead and claimed bragging rights by winning the first game. However, Fang-Chih and Fang-Jen clawed back in the second game to take an 11-5 lead into the break. The Asian Games gold medalists, on the other hand, launched a late comeback that reduced the score to 18-19, but their opponents held their nerve to force a decider. Satwik and Chirag won the decisive game by dominating the rallies with their offensive strokes. The Indian pair will face Taiwanese duo Yang Po-Han and Lu Ching-Yao in today’s (January 18) Round of 16.
However, Indian senior shuttler Kidambi Srikanth suffered an early exit due to an erratic performance, losing in straight games to Hong Kong’s Lee Cheuk Yiu. Despite a mix of spectacular shots and unforced errors, Srikanth lost 22-24, 13-21 to the world’s No.18 Lee. Srikanth showed potential with a solid start in the first game, displaying superb backcourt strokes to keep the lead. However, Lee staged a comeback, engaged in a close struggle and gaining three game points from a 17-17 tie.
Despite Srikanth’s efforts to tie the game at 20-20 and momentarily lead by one point, a critical blunder in the form of a sprayed shot allowed Lee to secure the victory with a clean drop shot. Srikanth struggled in the second game, trailing 2-11 at the break. Although he recovered to 6-12, the early damage proved insurmountable as the distance remained too large to cross, leaving the Indian shuttler with a straight-game loss to the 27-year-old Lee.
I know I have been making unforced errors for some time and I am working on it. I don’t play safe, that’s my game. I try to earn points. Hopefully, things will be better in the next few tournaments, Srikanth said. Parupalli Kashyap has a few things on his mind, so let’s see. If I win a few tournaments, I will qualify for the Olympics. I am not thinking about it as I just don’t want to qualify only, I want to be a medal contender too, the Indian shuttler concluded.
