Satwiksairaj Ranikreddy and Chirag Shetty reach Indonesia Open quarter-finals (BAI Media/Badminton Photo)
Satwiksairaj Ranikreddy and Chirag Shetty won the match against China’s He Ji Ting and Zhou Hao Dong 21-17 21-15 in 46 minutes, while Priyanshu Rajawat’s campaign ended in pre-quarters
Rising Indian shuttler Priyanshu Rajawat’s campaign ended in pre-quarters as he went down fighting to the world No. 2 and home favourite Anthony Ginting 22-20 15-21 15-21 in one hour and three minutes at the Indonesian Open in Jakarta, on Thursday.
A member of the historic Thomas Cup-winning Indian team from 2022, who won his maiden World Tour title at the Orleans Masters earlier this year, Rajawat had got a walkover from Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand in the opening round.
Up against the heavyweight, Rajawat showed a spirited fight when he bounced back from a 5-12 deficit to win the first game. But Ginting used all his experience to prevail over the 21-year-old Indian in the next two games and seal a quarterfinal berth.
Earlier, Birmingham Commonwealth Games champion and world No. 5 men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Ranikreddy and Chirag Shetty sailed past China’s He Ji Ting and Zhou Hao Dong 21-17 21-15 in 46 minutes.
The Indian seventh seed will be up against top seeds Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto in the quarterfinals.
Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy registered straight game wins to advance to the men’s singles quarterfinals but it was curtains for double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu at the Indonesia Open World Tour Super 1000 event here on Thursday.
Taking the court first, Srikanth used his vast experience to quell the challenge of Lakshya Sen 21-17 22-20 in an all-Indian second round duel.
It was a hard-fought battle between the two Indians but Srikanth bagged the crucial moments with his calmness and experience to prevail over Lakshya in the match that lasted 45 minutes.
The win ensured Srikanth’s dominance over his younger compatriot as he took his head-to-head record to 3-0 over Lakshya.
Seventh seed Prannoy then took just 43 minutes to get the better of Angus Ng Ka Long of Hong Kong 21-18 21-16.
However, world number 14 Sindhu made an early exit once again, losing 21-18 21-16 to her nemesis and world number 3 Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei in a women’s singles second-round match.
Sindhu had made opening round exits in the last two events.
Tai Tzu, seeded third, has been the opponent Sindhu had struggled against the most in the international arena and it was no better here with the Chinese Taipei shuttler enhancing her head-to-head record over the Indian to a staggering 19-5.
Sindhu and Tai Tzu’s most recent meeting was at the 2023 Sudirman Cup, where the Chinese Taipei player won 21-14 18-21 21-17.
With Sindhu’s loss, the Indian challenge came to an end in the women’s singles event.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI)
