Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty advanced to the second round of the French Open Super 750 badminton tournament with a straight-game win against Malaysia’s Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi here on Tuesday.
Satwik and Chirag, ranked world No. 1, had claimed the title in 2022. The Asian Games champions on Tuesday made a fine start to the tournament by outwitting the world No. 12 Malaysian combination 21-13, 24-22 in 47 minutes for their fifth win in last 8 meetings.
Satwik and Chirag, who finished second best in their last three tournaments, will face another Malaysian pair of Man Wei Chong and Kai Wun Tee in the next round.
Commonwealth Games bronze medallists Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand also progressed to the second round after claiming a 16-21, 21-19, 21-17 win over Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto in an all-Indian opening match in women’s doubles.
The two pairs are fighting to qualify for the Paris Olympics. While Tanisha-Ashwini are ranked 11th, Treesa-Gayatri are placed at 14th spot in the Olympic Games qualification ranking. Treesa and Gayatri are in red-hot form, having played a vital role in the Indian women’s epic win at the Badminton Asia Team Championships in Shah Alam, Malaysia.
Chief national coach Pullela Gopichand singled out Rankireddy and Shetty as favourites for an Olympic medal. “If I have to pick across sports, across countries, any one pair which is the pair to beat at the Olympics, it will have to be Satwik and Chirag,” Gopichand said.
