China Open Badminton 2023: Indian Challenge Ends In First Round As Satwik-Chirag, Rohan-Sikki Pair Crash Out

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Jiangsu (China), September 6: Indian challenge at the China Open Badminton 2023 ended in the opening round as the two remaining doubles teams - Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty and Rohan Kapoor-Sikki Reddy bowed out on Wednesday (September 6).

The top Indian doubles pair of Satwik-Chirag went down in three games to Indonesian pair Muhammad Shohibul Fikri and Bagas Maulana in the men's doubles match that lasted for an hour and 8 minutes on Court 2 at the Changzhou Olympic Sports Centre Xincheng Gymnasium in Changzhou, Jiangsu, China.

The Indian men's doubles team of Rankireddy and Shetty, who had won three titles on BWF World Tour this year, suffered a 17-21, 21-11, 17-21 loss to the thirteenth seeds from Indonesia.

Earlier on Wednesday (September 6), Kapoor and Sikki Reddy lost in straight games to Malaysian pair Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei in the mixed doubles opener in 39 minutes also on Court 2. The Indian duo lost by a scoreline of 15-21, 16-21 to the Malaysian pair.

With this the Indian challenge came to an end as the others in action on the opening day (Tuesday, September 5) all lost their opening round matches. Lakshya Sen, HS Prannoy, Priyanshu Rajawat, Treesa Jolly & Gayathri Gopichand and Dhruv Kapila & MR Arjun all bowed out.

In men's singles, Prannoy, who won the BWF World Championships bronze last month, lost in three games 12-21, 21-13, 18-21 to Malaysia's NG Tze Yong, while Rajawat lost in straight games 13-21, 24-26 to Indonesia's Shesar Hiren Rhustavito, and Sen went down fighting 21-23, 21-16, 9-21 to Denmark's Anders Antonsen.

In doubles action, Jolly-Gopichand pair lost in straight games 18-21, 11-21 to the top seeds and recent women's doubles world champions Chen Qing Chen and Jia Yi Fan of China, while Kapila-Arjun also lost in straight games 21-23, 19-21 to Japan's Keiichiro Matsui and Yoshinori Takeuchi in men's doubles.