India Open Super 750: Satwik-Chirag the solitary Indian winners on second day, Srikanth pays for unforced errors in early exit
The host country’s only winners on the second day of the India Open Super 750 were the in-form Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and even that didn’t come easy. The World No 2, who only reached India late on Monday night after their runner-up finish at the Malaysia Open last week, brushed off some rustiness and lack of practice at the main court of the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall in New Delhi on Wednesday to defeat Chinese Taipei identical twins Fang-Chih Lee and Fang-Jen Lee.
Satwik-Chirag registered a 21-15, 19-21, 21-16 win to reach the second round at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium.
The significant disappointment of the day was a first-round exit for Srikanth Kidambi, who looked to be in control of proceedings at one stage, leading 17-14 in the opening game against world No 18 Lee Cheuk Yiu. Usually not the most expressive of characters on the court unless he has to dig in deep, Srikanth seemed up for the task from the word go. Buoyed on by chants like “Hamara Player Kaisa Ho, Srikanth Bhaiya Jaise ho” and “Laal Phool Neela Phool Srikanth Bhaiya Beautiful”, Srikanth displayed the best of his attacking game till that point.
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Unsurprisingly, one of the loudest cheers so far at the tournament as Srikanth Kidambi walks on to the court for his first round match against Lee Cheuk Yiu. https://t.co/FXqFWLztZZ pic.twitter.com/dj2c60ev82
— Vinayakk (@vinayakkm) January 17, 2024
Lee won six straight points from there to have three game points. Srikanth didn’t give up, won three straight points himself and took the opener to the distance. But eventually, the Hong Kong shuttler took it 24-22. The second game, however, saw Srikanth go completely off the boil as he trailed 2-11. As he kept going for the kill, he kept missing the line – something he’d reflect later on just how he plays. He lives by the sword, and he often falls by it too as he lost the second game 21-13.
“I have been making quite a lot of unforced errors,” Srikanth said after the defeat. “Even at the beginning of the second set, I did quite a lot today, but again, you know, I am somebody who really likes to take on the points and not to play safe. But the downside of it is what happened today. I am definitely working on cutting down on those unforced errors.”
But for the crowd that stayed back to watch former champions Satwik and Chirag make a homecoming to the event they had to withdraw from in the second round, get their time’s worth.
The second seeds started superbly to take the opening game but as has been the trend since last week, they conceded a big lead in Game 2. Once again they fought back, from 5-11 down to reduce the deficit to 18-19, but the Taipei pair forced the decider. In the final game, they started slow but went on a run from 1-4 down to win nine straight points and saw the remainder of the match through. They will next face Chinese Taipei’s Lu Ching Yao and Yang Po Han.
New Delhi: India’s Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy during the men’s doubles badminton match against Taiwan’s Fang-Jen Lee and Fang-Chih Lee at the India Open 2024, in New Delhi, Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024. (PTI Photo/Shahbaz Khan)(PTI01_17_2024_000544A)
“We have worked a lot on our defence over the past two years and it has brought a new facet in our armor because you can’t always rely on your attack in these slow conditions,” Chirag said after the win.
In women’s doubles, Ashwini Ponnappa/Tanisha Crasto went down 5-21, 21-18, 11-21 against Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai of Thailand. The Indians were blown away in the opening game but fought back well to force the decider against the world No 10 pair. But a poor start to the decider meant they were unable to pull off another upset after their impressive win against former world champions Nagahara and Matsumoto in Malaysia last week.
The rest of the Indian contingent in Ashwini Bhat/Shikha Gautam, Aakarshi Kashyap. Satish Kumar Karunakaran suffered straight-game defeats.
In a highly-anticipated match between current and former world champions, An Se Young and Ratchanok Intanon produced a clash filled with delicious strokeplay. But it was the Korean World No 1 who came back from a game down to win 14-21, 21-11, 21-11. Two-time former World Champion Akane Yamaguchi, Indonesian stars Jonatan Christie and Anthony Ginting, men’s doubles world No 1 Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang were also safely through to the second round.
The action continues in Delhi on Thursday, with HS Prannoy and Priyanshu Rajawat facing in an all-Indian clash that ensures at least one Indian presence in the quarterfinals. Satwik and Chirag, having missed out in 2023, would be keen to get there and beyond.
