Key Points

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty showed resilience by defeating an Indonesian pair to secure a spot in the Singapore Open quarterfinals. Their next challenge is against the world No. 1 Malaysian team, Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin. Meanwhile, Indian badminton stars like PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy faced disappointment, exiting in the tournament's earlier rounds. The event saw various Indian players face tough challenges in their respective draws, highlighting the competitive nature of the tournament.

Key Points: Satwik-Chirag in Singapore Open Quarters as Sindhu Exits

  • Satwik-Chirag overcame a tough Indonesian pair in three sets
  • They now face top seeds Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin
  • Sindhu lost after a tough three-game match against Chen Yu Fei
  • Prannoy and several other Indian players faced early exits
2 min read

Singapore Open: Satwik-Chirag enter quarterfinals; Prannoy, Sindhu bow out

Satwik-Chirag advance in Singapore Open while Sindhu, Prannoy face early exits in round 16.

"We fought hard to make it to the quarterfinals.” - Satwiksairaj Rankireddy"

Singapore, May 29

India’s men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty moved into the quarterfinals of the Singapore Open, a BWF Super 750 badminton tournament while HS Prannoy and PV Sindhu crashed out in the round of 16 on Thursday.

Satwik-Chirag came back from a game down to beat Indonesia’s Sabar Karyaman Gutama and Muhammad Reza Pahlevi Isfahani 19-21, 21-16, 21-18 in one hour and 14 minutes.

The Indian pair will next face off with the world No. 1 and second-seed Malaysian duo of Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin for a place in the semifinals.

In men’s singles, HS Prannoy suffered a straight-game loss against Frenchman Christo Popov, facing a 16-21, 14-21 defeat in a match which lasted 42 minutes.

In the women's singles, double Olympic medallist Sindhu also bowed out in the second round after losing to China’s Chen Yu Fei 9-21, 21-18, 16-21.

The mixed doubles duo of Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Gadde too suffered a round of 16 loss, going down to the second-seeded pair of Tang Chun Man and Tse Ying Suet of Hong Kong 10-21, 16-21.

In the women's doubles, Tressa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand will be in action later in the day.

Earlier in the women’s singles, Aakarshi Kashyap and Unnati Hooda failed to cross the first hurdle. Aakarshi lost to world No. 4 Han Yue 21-17, 13-21, 7-21 in a 58-minute battle while Unnati went down 21-13, 9-21, 15-21 to world No. 2 Wang Zhi Yi.

Anupama Upadhyaya also crashed out after losing 12-21, 16-21 to Sung Shuo Yun of Chinese Taipei while the women’s doubles pair of Vaishnavi Khadkekar and Alisha Khan were overwhelmed 8-21, 9-21 by Australia’s Gronya Somerville and Angela Yu.

In the men's singles, India's top-ranked men’s shuttler Lakshya Sen was forced to retire midway through his opening round match. Sen started strong against Chinese Taipei’s Lin Chun-Yi, taking the first game 21-15. But Lin came back to take the second 21-17. In the deciding game, Sen began to struggle with lower back pain and retired while trailing 5-13.

- IANS

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Reader Comments

R
Rahul K.
Satwik-Chirag are making us proud yet again! 🇮🇳 Their fighting spirit against the Indonesians was incredible. Hope they can upset the Malaysian pair too. But really worried about Sindhu's form - she's been inconsistent since her injury comeback.
P
Priya M.
So many early exits this tournament 😔 Lakshya's injury is concerning - we need him fit for Paris Olympics. On the bright side, our doubles game is improving! Maybe we should focus more on doubles training in coming years.
A
Arjun S.
The Chinese players continue to dominate our shuttlers. Chen Yu Fei was just too good today. We need better strategies against them - maybe more exposure tournaments in China? Also, where are the new talents? Still relying on Sindhu after so many years.
N
Neha T.
Mixed feelings today! 😊 For Satwik-Chirag, 😞 for others. The young players like Unnati showed promise in first game but couldn't sustain. Need better fitness coaches perhaps? The Australian pair thrashing our girls 21-8, 21-9 was painful to see.
V
Vikram J.
Why is BAI not addressing the injury issues? First Lakshya now Prannoy also looked tired. These players are playing too many tournaments back-to-back. Quality over quantity please! Rest them before important events like Olympics.
S
Sneha R.
At least we have one pair in QFs! SatChi are carrying Indian badminton on their shoulders. Their match against world no.1 will be tough but winnable. As for others - time to go back to drawing board. The gap with top players is widening.

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