Jakarta
With the Olympics approaching, top Indian shuttlers Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty aim for consistency as they defend their doubles title at the Indonesia Open Super 1000 tournament starting today. The top-seeded pair, favorites for gold at the Paris Olympics, has had a strong season with four final appearances and two wins (French Open Super 750 and Thailand Open Super 500).
However, they struggled with the serves of Indonesian and Chinese players at the Thomas Cup and exited early from the All England Open and Singapore Open last week. Satwik and Chirag, who made history by winning India’s first BWF Super 1000 title last year, will start their campaign against Malaysia’s Man Wei Chong and Kai Wun Tee, aiming to regain their top form.
With the Paris Games less than two months away, the Olympic-bound shuttlers have only a few tournaments left—Australian Open and Canada Open—to fine-tune their skills.
Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu will also feel the pressure to build confidence before the Paris Games. Her runner-up finish in Malaysia was promising, but her collapse in the final against China’s Wang Zhi Yi remains a concern. Sindhu faces Wen Chi Hsu from Chinese Taipei in the opening round, potentially setting up a match against Carolina Marin.
In men’s singles, HS Prannoy and Lakshya Sen hope for deep runs to boost their Paris Games preparation. Lakshya begins against Japan’s Kanta Tsuneyama, while Prannoy faces compatriot Priyanshu Rajawat.
