The Indian men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty began the new season on a winning note, advancing to the second round, while Asian Games bronze medallist HS Prannoy and Lakshya Sen bit the dust in their opening-round match at the Malaysia Open Super 1000 badminton tournament here on Wednesday.
The world No.2 doubles combination of Satwik and Chirag overcame a tough challenge from the gritty Indonesian pair of Muhammad Shohibul Fikri and Maulana Bagas 21-18, 21-19, while world No. 8 Prannoy lost to Denmark’s Anders Antonsen, a player ranked one spot below him, 14-21, 11-21 in 43 minutes.
Lakshya lost the first-round clash against Weng Hong Yang of China 15-21, 16-21.
The second-seeded pair of Satwik and Chirag, who reached the semi-finals in 2023, will look to continue their good run and go deep in the draw after the stiff 44-minute test from the world No. 9 duo, which had beaten the Indians twice last year — at the Thailand Open and China Open.
Satwik and Chirag have looked in ominous form, winning the Asian Games gold in Hangzhou, a Super 1000 crown in Indonesia, the Korea Open Super 500 and the Swiss Open Super 300 last year before grabbing a a career-best ranking of World No.1, albeit for a brief time.
Lakshya Sen PTI
The duo asserted early dominance in the first game with powerful smashes to take a four-point lead at 8-4 and never lost the advantage. However, the second game was more challenging with the Indians trailing for most part
of the match before levelling at 19-all and taking the last
two points.
Prannoy had a sensational last season with maiden bronze medals at the World Championships and
the Asian Games and a title-run at the Malaysia Masters Super 500.
But, in the season-opening match here, the Indian looked rusty and couldn’t match up with his opponent’s speed.
On Tuesday, world No. 24 Kidambi Srikanth stunned world No. 5 Indonesian Jonatan Christie 12-21, 21-18, 21-16.
