Indian badminton players Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty advanced to the second round of men’s doubles at the Korea Open 2023 on Tuesday. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty won their first match since winning the Indonesia Open last month. They defeated Thailand’s Supak Jomkoh and Kittinupong Kedren 21-16, 21-14. The Indian duo continued up where they left off in Indonesia. Leading 11-6 into the first mid-game break of the match.
Despite a strong fight from the Thai players following the restart, Chirag-Satwik held on to take the lead. Supak Jomkoh and Kittinupong Kedren began the second game with determination and surged up 9-4. However, the Indians turned the tables and won the match in 32 minutes. In the pre-quarterfinals, the world’s third-ranked Indian pair will meet He Ji Ting and Zhou Hao Dong of the People’s Republic of China.
Chirag-Satwik did not get off to the best start, with the Taiwanese duo taking an 8-4 lead early on, but the Indians responded with four straight points to tie the game. The two pairs then tied 14-14 before Satwik and Chirag earned a narrow 17-16 edge. The Indians then scored the required four points to win the first game. Satwik and Chirag played with more clarity after knowing their opponents.
Indian Singles Players Falling Behind
It showed as they went up 12-5 after switching sides. The Taiwanese were then allowed to catch up, while the Indians easily won. In the men’s singles qualifiers, none of the Indian badminton players competing on the day advanced to the main draw. Harshit Aggarwal defeated Malaysian shuttler Tan Jia Jie 21-15, 21-17 in the first round before losing to Choi Pyeong Gang of Chinese Taipei in the second round.
Shashwat Dalal failed to overcome the first barrier, losing 21-14, 21-17 to local player Jeong Min Seon. India’s Meiraba Luwang Maisnam was supposed to play but was cancelled. PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy will compete in the singles main draw, which begins on Wednesday. Ashwini and Tanisha, who won the Guwahati Masters Super 100 championship last month, will face Malaysia’s Pei Kee Go and Mei Xing Teoh next.
