Satwik-Chirag Survive Thriller To Begin Thailand Open Campaign In Style

Top seeds Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty survived a stiff challenge before beating Indonesia’s Muh Putra Erwiansyah and Bagas Maulana in a thrilling three-game opener of the men’s doubles competition at the Thailand Open Super 500 tournament in Bangkok on Tuesday.

The world No. 4 Indian pair registered a 21-19, 21-23, 21-10 win over Muh and Bagas in 64 minutes.

The Indian duo found themselves trailing 11-16 in the first game before reeling off seven straight points to turn the tide.

Muh and Bagas fought back to make it 18-18, but Satwik and Chirag held their nerve to take the opening game.

The second game remained closely fought, with both pairs engaged in long rallies before the Indians managed to take a slender three-point lead at the interval.

The Indonesian pair, however, dominated the exchanges after the break and moved ahead 17-14.

Despite a spirited fightback from the Indians, the match went into a decider. In the third game, Satwik and Chirag stamped their authority, racing to an 11-5 lead at the break before cruising through the remainder of the contest.

The Indian pair will face Malaysia’s Bryan Jeremy Goonting and Muhammad Haikal next.

Earlier, Malaysia’s Olympic bronze medallist Lee Zii Jia, who returned to action after recovering from a right ankle injury and back issues, defeated India’s Manav Choudhary 21-19, 21-18 in a qualifying match.

In mixed doubles qualification, India’s M Jaglan and L Jaglan lost 11-21, 18-21 to Chinese Taipei’s Tsai Fu Cheng and Sung Yu Hsuan, while in women’s singles qualification, Thailand’s Y Ketklieng beat India’s A Shahapurkar 21-5, 21-7.

Later in the day, another men’s doubles duo of Hariharan Amsakarunan and MR Arjun will take on the Chinese Taipei’s Chen Zhi Ray and Lin Yu-Chieh.

(With PTI Inputs)