Saarbrucken (Germany): India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty advanced to men’s doubles pre-quarters at the Hylo Open 2022 BWF Super 300 tournament after defeating Yang Lee and Chen Lu of Chinese Taipei in the round of 32, here on Wednesday.
The pair of Satwik-Chirag, who won the French Open last week, bounced back after falling behind in the first game to beat the Chinese Taipei pair 19-21, 21-19, 21-16 in 61 minutes.
Lee, the men’s doubles gold medallist at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, was paired with Chen Lu instead of his usual partner Chi-Lin Wang.
Following a close start in their first game, the Chinese Taipei pair managed to score seven points in a row and put Satwik-Chirag on the backfoot. The Indian pair mounted a comeback but Yang Lee and Chen Lu held through to take the opening game.
A competitive second game saw points exchanged between the two pairs in quick succession. But Satwik and Chirag held their nerves in the closing moments to force a decider.
The Indian badminton duo stepped up in the final game and completed the comeback to progress into the round of 16, where they will go up against England’s Rory Easton and Zach Russ.
Meanwhile, in the women’s singles, Thailand’s Busanan Ongbamrungphan’s winning streak over Saina Nehwal extended to six matches. The third-seeded Busanan won 21-15, 21-8.
London 2012 Olympic bronze winner Saina was competitive early on in the first game but Busanan strung four points together at the end to gain the advantage. The Thai carried her momentum into the second game to win the match in 34 minutes.
It was Saina’s fourth consecutive first round loss.
Earlier in the day, HS Prannoy pulled out of his men’s singles match against Shesar Hiren Rhustavito. Prannoy, the current world No 12 in the badminton rankings, had gotten the better of Rhustavito in their two previous clashes.
–IANS