Satwik-Chirag sail into pre-quarters, Saina Nehwal crashes out

SAARBRUCKEN [GERMANY]: Indian men's badminton duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty continued their winning juggernaut at the Hylo Open, defeating Chinese Taipei's Yang Lee and Chen Lu in Saarbrucken, Germany on Wednesday.

The Satwik-Chirag team, which last week won the French Open, overcame a deficit in the first set to defeat the Chinese Taipei team 19-21, 21-19, and 21-16 in 61 minutes.

Yang Lee, who won the gold medal in men's doubles at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, was paired with Chen Lu rather than his customary partner Chi-Lin Wang.

The Chinese Taipei team managed to score seven points in a row after a close first game to put Satwik-Chirag on the defensive. The Indian team attempted a comeback, but Yang Lee and Chen Lu were able to hold on and win the first game.

In the second game, which was also intense, the two pairs quickly traded points. However, Satwik and Chirag maintained their composure in the dying seconds to level the match.

The Indian badminton team came back in the decisive game to advance to the round of 16, where they will face Rory Easton and Zach Russ of England.

Busanan Ongbamrungphan of Thailand defeated Saina Nehwal for the sixth time in a row in the women's singles competition. Busanan, the third seed, triumphed 21-15, 21-8.

Saina Nehwal, who won bronze at the London 2012 Olympics, was competitive in the first game, but Busanan scored four points in a row to win. The Thai continued to gain momentum in the second game and finished out the opponent in 34 minutes.

Saina Nehwal suffered her fourth straight defeat in the opening round.

Kidambi Srikanth, a former world number one, defeated China's Lu Guang Zu, who is presently rated 21st, in the men's singles match to win the day.

The CWG 2022 bronze medalist Kidambi won with scores of 15-21, 21-14, and 21-13 to guarantee his place in the round of 16. The Chinese player took the lead in the match with a rush of points near the end of the first game.

But Kidambi came back in the second to turn the match into a three-game contest. In the third game, Lu Guang Zu had an early lead, but Kidambi showed his skill and defeated his rival. Arnaud Merkle, ranked 43rd in the world, will be Kidambi Srikanth's opponent on Thursday.

HS Prannoy withdrew from his men's singles match against Shesar Hiren Rhustavito earlier in the day. Rhustavito had lost to Prannoy, the No. 12 player in the world in badminton, in both of their previous encounters.