Commonwealth Games gold medallists Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty rallied to beat France’s Christo Popov and Toma Junior Popov to enter the men’s doubles pre-quarterfinals of the French Open Super 750 tournament in Paris on Tuesday.
The Indian duo lost the first game 19-21, but recovered strongly to win the next two 21-9 21-13 in their round of 32 match. They face Wei Chong Man and Kai Wun Tee of Malaysia in the round of 16.
Birmingham CWG bronze medallists Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand bowed out of the tournament after losing in straight games in their opening women’s doubles match.
Treesa and Gayatri put up a gallant fight before losing 21-23 20-22 to sixth seeded Thai pair of Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai.
Former world no.1 Saina Nehwal also lost out in the opening round, going down to world no. 27 Yvonne Li of Germany, 21-13 17-21 19-21.
Saina won the first game with ease, never relinquishing the lead after the pair were tied at 5-5. It was the same situation in the second game, but in reverse as Yvonne Li drew level. The pair played out a thrilling final game, where they exchanged the lead ten times. Saina lead 19-17 in the final game, but Li won four straight points to close out the game after 57 minutes.
In mixed doubles, Ishaan Bhatnagar and Tanisha Crasto also couldn’t cross the first round, losing 13-21 16-21 to Japan’s Kyohei Yamashita and Naru Shinoya.
Lakshya Sen and Kidambi Srikanth face off in an all-Indian opening round clash on Wednesday, with the winner of the tie either facing Rasmus Gemke or Nhat Nguyen. Sameer Verma has the daunting challenge of sixth seed Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, while HS Prannoy faces Daren Liew of Malaysia. In men’s doubles, MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila take on fifth-seeded Indonesian duo Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto.
With PTI Inputs
