Satwik-Chirag win but Lakshya gets injured

Singapore

India's top men’s doubles team, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, made a strong comeback at the Singapore Open Super 750 badminton tournament. Playing for the first time since March, they defeated Malaysia’s Choong Hon Jian and Muhammad Haikal 21-16, 21-13 in just 40 minutes. This was their second win over the Malaysian pair. Satwik and Chirag, once ranked world No. 1, are now placed 27th and showed no signs of injury or rust.

Earlier this year, the duo had missed the All England Open and the Sudirman Cup due to Chirag's back issue and Satwik’s health concerns. However, they had performed well with semifinal finishes at the Malaysia Open and India Open.

On a sad note, India's top singles player Lakshya Sen had to retire hurt during his first-round match against Chinese Taipei’s Lin Chun-Yi. Sen, ranked 17th, won the first game 21-15, lost the second 17-21, and was trailing 5-13 in the deciding game when he stopped due to injury. The exact cause of his injury is still unknown.

In mixed doubles, Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde moved into the pre-quarterfinals. They beat the American pair Chen Zhi Yi and Francesca Corbett 21-16, 21-19 in 35 minutes.

In women’s singles, Aakarshi Kashyap gave a tough fight but lost to world No. 4 Han Yue from China. Kashyap took the first game 21-17 but lost the next two games 13-21, 7-21, and exited the tournament.