Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty score hard-fought victory over Indonesia's Muh Putra Erwiansyah and Bagas Maulana in Thailand Open opener.
Key Points
- Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty defeated Muh Putra Erwiansyah and Bagas Maulana in a thrilling three-game match at the Thailand Open.
- The Indian pair, ranked world No. 4, recovered from a first-game deficit to secure the win.
- Satwik and Chirag displayed dominance in the final game, securing a comfortable lead and the match victory.
- Lee Zii Jia defeated India's Manav Choudhary in a qualifying match after recovering from injury.
Top seeds Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty survived a stiff challenge from Indonesia's Muh Putra Erwiansyah and Bagas Maulana in their opening match of the men's doubles competition at the Thailand Open Super 500 tournament, in Bangkok, on Tuesday.
The world No. 4 Indian pair scored a 21-19, 21-23, 21-10 victory over Muh and Bagas in 64 minutes.
The Indians found themselves trailing 11-16 in the first game before reeling off seven straight points to turn the tide.
Muh-Bagas fought back to make it 18-18, but Satwik-Chirag held their nerve to take the opening game.
Tight Competition And Decisive Final Game
The second game was 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 eventually went into a decider.
In the third game, Satwik-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.
Other Matches At Thailand Open
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.
In the opening round of men's doubles, seventh seeds Hariharan Amsakarunan and M.R. Arjun suffered a 18-21, 20-22 loss to Chinese Taipei's Chen Zhi Ray and Lin Yu Chieh.
Rutaparna Panda and Swetaparna Panda went down 9-21, 11-21 to Chinese Taipei's Lin Chih Chun and Yang Chu Yun in women's doubles.
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