In the opening rounds of the Malaysia Open Super 1000 badminton tournament, India made a mixed start, as Shuttler Duo Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, secured a convincing victory and advances to the second round, meanwhile Asian Games bronze medallist HS Prannoy and Lakshya Sen faced early exits.
In Men’s doubles, Satwik-Chirag, currently world No. 2, secured victory defeating world No. 9 Indonesian pair Muhammad Shohibul Fikri and Bagas Maulana in straight games (21-18, 21-19), during a challenging 44-minute encounter. The pair started strong in the first game, hitting powerful smashes to lead 8-4 and kept their advantage. The second game was tougher, with the Indian team behind most of the time. They caught up at 19-all and won the last two points. The duo, recipients of the Khel Ratna award, are set to face France's Lucas Korvee and Ronan Labar in the pre-quarterfinals, scheduled on January 11.
Meanwhile, in Men’s Singles, World No.8 HS Prannoy, in his season-opening match, struggled against world No.9 Denmark’s Anders Antonsen, losing in straight games (14-21, 11-21) in a 43-minute battle. Prannoy had an outstanding previous season, securing bronze at the World Championships and Asian Games, along with a title at the Malaysia Masters super 500.
Lakshya Sen faced a similar fate, struggling against China’s Weng Hong Yang in two straight sets (21-15, 21-16). Unfortunately, this marks Sen's sixth consecutive first-round exit.
In other notable performances, Kidambi Srikanth made a comeback, overcoming world No. 5 Jonatan Christie (12-21, 21-18, 21-16).
While women's doubles pair Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto secured a straightforward victory, winning in straight games (21-13, 21-16) against the American pair Francesca Corbett and Allison Lee. Their next challenge awaits against Japan's Mayu Matsumoto and Wakana Nagahara, who comfortably advanced by defeating India's Rutuparna Panda & Swetapadma Panda with a score of 21-12, 21-11.
However, Aakarshi Kashyap faced defeat in women's singles against China's Zhang Yi Man (15-21, 15-21), and the men’s doubles team of M R Arjun and Dhruva Kapila lost against Chinese Taipei's Fang-Chih Lee and Fang-Jen Lee (16-21, 19-21).
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