India Open: Satwik-Chirag pair wins, error-prone Srikanth goes down

The proceedings in the India Open badminton are following a predictable script. Barring second-seeded Chirag Shetty-Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, none of the home-grown talent on view survived the second day of the premier competition here.

The Chirag-Satwik duo, too, dealt with some anxious moments in the early stages of the decider before regaining control for a 21-15, 19-21, 21-16 triumph over Chinese Taipei’s Fang Chih-Lee and Fang-Jen Lee.

This was a second career-win for the Indians over their rivals to go with the triumph in the 2023 Swiss Open.

However, there was disappointment from all other matches involving Indians.

Former World No. 1 K. Srikanth, now ranked 25th, raised visions of an encouraging result but eventually bowed out to Hong Kong’s Lee Cheuk Yiu for the third successive time in four encounters. During the 47-minute match that Lee Cheuk Yiu won 24-22, 21-13, Srikanth saved three game points in the opener, then squandered a game-point before his rival converted his fifth game-point.

In the second, Srikanth bridged a 3-12 deficit to 13-17 but could not get any better. A very high percentage of unforced errors from the Indian made things easy for the World No. 18.

The home challenge in women’s singles and doubles ended. World No. 20 Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto battled hard to test World No. 10 Thai pair Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai for 63 minutes but the result appeared a foregone conclusion much before the final point. In setting up a 21-5, 18-21, 21-11 scoreline, the Thai duo outplayed the Indians in the first and third games, by building healthy leads.

Aakarshi Kashyap, a last-minute entry thanks to the late withdrawals, was the only Indian in the women’s draw. Unfortunately, she ran into second-seeded Chinese Chen Yufei who took just 32 minutes for a straight-game triumph.