Singapore Open: Satwik-Chirag makes winning comeback, Lakshya Sen retires hurt

Singapore: India’s star men’s doubles duo Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty made a strong return to the court with a straight-game win, even as Lakshya Sen’s campaign came to a painful end at the Singapore Open Super 750 badminton tournament on Wednesday.

Playing their first competitive match since pulling out of the All-England Championships in March due to Chirag’s back injury, the Indian duo showed no signs of rust as it won in straight games. The former world No. 1 pair defeated Malaysia’s Choong Hon Jian and Muhammad Haikal 21-16, 21-13 in just under 40 minutes in the opening round.

It was their second win against the world No. 41 Malaysian pair, as the Indian duo, currently ranked 27th in the world, looked sharp and confident throughout the encounter.

The win comes after a period of setbacks for the pair, who had also missed the Sudirman Cup earlier this month. While Chirag was recovering from his back issues, Satwik had been dealing with health concerns. Before their absence, they had shown good form with semifinal finishes at both the Malaysia Open and India Open earlier this year.

In singles, however, there was disappointment for India as top-ranked men’s shuttler Lakshya Sen was forced to retire midway through his opening-round match. The world No. 17 started strong against Chinese Taipei’s Lin Chun-Yi, taking the first game 21-15. But Lin, ranked 19th, 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.

In mixed doubles, Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde progressed to the pre-quarterfinals with a 21-16, 21-19 win over the American pair of Chen Zhi Yi and Francesca Corbett in 35 minutes.

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

Anupama Upadhyaya also crashed out, 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.