India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty continued their spectacular run to advance to the men’s doubles quarterfinals however Kidambi Srikanth did not cross the second spherical at Malaysia Open Super 1000 badminton event right here on Thursday.
World No. 2 Satwik and Chirag, who had a stellar run in 2023 with six titles, beat France’s world No. 36 Lucas Corvee and Ronan Labar 21-11 21-18 to arrange a conflict with China’s world No. 32 He Ji Ting and Ren Xiang Yu.
The Indian girls’s doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto, who claimed the Guwahati Masters tremendous 100 title final month, shocked seventh seeded Japanese pair of Wakana Nagahara and Mayu Matsumoto 21-19, 13-21, 21-15 to inch nearer of their effort to qualify for the Paris Olympics.
Srikanth, nevertheless, did not rein in his errors and went down 13-21 17-21 to Hong Kong’s Ng Ka Long Angus within the second spherical.
Satwik and Chirag, the Asian Games gold medallists, dished out an aggressive recreation to gallop to 11-2 lead on the break within the opening recreation. A seven-point burst after resumption gave the French pair hope as they made it 12-14.
But the Indian mixture quickly discovered their bearing to run away with the opening recreation after gathering the remaining seven factors on the trot.
The Indians, nevertheless, would not have been ready for what got here subsequent as Corvee and Labar got here out blazing on all cylinders to take an 11-4 cushion within the interval.
From 4-11, Satwik and Chirag, nevertheless, made it 16-16 with Chirag and Satwik as soon as once more scripting a exceptional restoration.
Once the French went lengthy, the Indians had the benefit. Labar pounced on a weak return to maintain themselves within the hunt. A deception from Chirag, adopted by a flat trade, gave India three match factors. They squandered one earlier than Labar served into the online.
Earlier, a collection of unforced errors and unhealthy line judgements put Srikanth, world ranked 24, on the again foot as world No. 20 Ka Long appeared in superb fettle in the course of the 38-minute men’s singles match.
Srikanth had a promising begin as he led 6-1 at one stage however his inconsistencies in execution as soon as once more got here to the fore as Ka Long reeled off six straight factors to show the tables.
The Hong Kong participant, who had come into the match after dropping twice to the Indians in final two conferences, gained in confidence and one other six-point burst put him in command as Srikanth crumbled.
In the second recreation, Srikanth appeared to take extra initiative initially and managed to eke out a slender 11-10 lead with a leap cross-court smash.
But Ka lengthy, who has a very good file in opposition to Indian gamers, rapidly turned the tables once more to guide 14-12, as Srikanth did not get well in time to achieve a shot throughout a rally.
The Indian tried to increase the rallies however Ka Long was relentless along with his retrievals and confirmed beautiful contact. Soon the Hong Kong participant was up 17-12.
The Indian gathered just a few fast factors with Ka Long committing a collection of unforced errors to slender the deficit to 16-18.
Soon, a backhand flick got here to Ka Long’s rescue as he deposed a smash kill from Srikanth after which despatched one on the backline, which the Indian couldn’t attain. Srikanth, subsequent, sprayed into internet to finish his agony.
