Satwik and Chirag overcame a troublesome problem from the gritty Indonesian pair of Muhammad Shohibul Fikri and Maulana Bagas 21-18, 21-19.
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The Indian males’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty started the brand new season on a successful be aware, advancing to the second round, whereas Asian Games bronze medallist HS Prannoy bit the mud in his opening-round match at the Malaysia Open Super 1000 badminton match right here on Wednesday.
The world No.2 doubles mixture of Satwik and Chirag overcame a troublesome problem from the gritty Indonesian pair of Muhammad Shohibul Fikri and Maulana Bagas 21-18, 21-19, whereas world No. 8 Prannoy misplaced to Denmark’s Anders Antonsen, a participant ranked one spot under him, 14-21, 11-21 in 43 minutes.
The second-seeded pair of Satwik and Chirag, which reached the semifinals in 2023, will look to proceed the nice run and go deep in the draw after the stiff 44-minute check from the world No. 9 duo, which had overwhelmed the Indians twice final 12 months — at the Thailand Open and China Open.
Satwik and Chirag have appeared in ominous type, successful the Asian Games gold in Hangzhou, a Super 1000 crown in Indonesia, the Korea Open Super 500 and the Swiss Open tremendous 300 final 12 months earlier than grabbing a a career-best rating of World No.1, albeit for a short time.
The duo asserted early dominance in the primary recreation with highly effective smashes to take a four-point lead at 8-4 and by no means misplaced the benefit. However, the second recreation was tougher with the Indians trailing for many a part of the match earlier than levelling at 19-all and taking the final two factors.
Prannoy, a frontrunner in the Olympic race, had a sensational final season with maiden bronze medals at the World Championships and the Asian Games and a title-run at the Malaysia Masters tremendous 500.
But, in the season-opening match right here the Indian appeared rusty and could not match up together with his opponent’s velocity.
Another Indian, Lakshya Sen, will start his marketing campaign towards Weng Hong Yang of China later in the day.
