Satwik-Chirag sail into Macau Open second round

Macau, July 30:  India’s premier men’s doubles pair, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, showcased their class by storming into the second round of the Macau Open Super 300 badminton tournament. The Asian Games champions secured a convincing straight-game victory over Malaysia’s Low Hang Yee and Ng Eng Cheong with a scoreline of 21-13, 21-15, in a match that lasted just 36 minutes on Tuesday. This win comes on the heels of their regaining a spot in the top 10 of the BWF world rankings.

The Indian duo started strong, quickly establishing a 6-1 lead in the first game. Although the Malaysian pair managed to narrow the gap to 10-9, Satwik and Chirag swiftly regained control to close out the game at 21-13. In the second game, the Malaysians put up a tougher fight, keeping the score tight until 13-14. However, the former world No. 1 Indian pair then pulled away, securing four consecutive points to reach 17-13 before ultimately sealing the match.

In women’s singles, Indian talents Anmol Kharb and Tasnim Mir successfully navigated their qualification matches to advance to the main draw. Anmol secured her spot by defeating Azerbaijan’s Keisha Fatimah Azzahra 21-11, 21-13. Tasnim, on the other hand, overcame a challenge from Thailand’s Tidapron Kleebyeesun in a three-game thriller, winning 21-14, 13-21, 21-17. Tasnim is set to face top seed Chen Yu Fei of China in her opening main draw match, while Anmol will challenge second seed Busanan Ongbamrungphan of Thailand.

However, it was an early exit for the top-seeded women’s doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand. They faced a tough battle against Chinese Taipei’s Lin Xiao Min and Peng Yu Wei, ultimately losing in an hour-long encounter with scores of 21-16, 20-22, 15-21.

In other men’s doubles action, Dingku Singh Konthoujam and Amaan Mohammad secured their place in the main draw after defeating Hong Kong’s Law Cheuk Him and Yeung Shing Choi 21-18, 21-17. They are now set for an all-Indian clash against compatriots Pruthvi Krishnamurthy Roy and Sai Pratheek K in the next round. The mixed doubles pair of Thandrangini Hema Nagendra Babu and Priya Konjengbam also made it to the main draw, where they will face Thailand’s Phuwanat Horbanluekit and Fungfa Korpthammakit.

Meanwhile, Meiraba Luwang Maisnam’s campaign in the men’s singles qualification ended in the second round, as he went down 15-21, 21-17, 13-21 to China’s Zhu Xuan Chen.