Kang Khai Xing-Aaron Tai upset Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty
Fourth seeds Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty were sent packing out in the first round of the men’s doubles competition at the All-England Open badminton championships.opener in straight games at the All England Open Badminton Championships last night.
The Indian pair were beaten 21-23, 12-21 by World No. 33 Kang Khai Xing-Aaron Tai of Malaysia.
Satwik-Chirag began the contest in style and raced to an 11-6 lead at the interval before the Malaysian duo started to chip away at the Indian duo’s advantage to make it 16-all.
Khai Xing-Aaron, the 2024 junior world champions, then took the lead and forced Satwik-Chirag to save two match points before the Indian pair eventually conceded the opener in a tie-break.
With momentum on their side, the Malaysians went on to dominate the second game, leading 11-7 at the interval and conceding just five more points en route to sealing the match.
Also seeing the exit in the competition were the Indonesian seventh seeded pair of Sabar Karyaman Gutama-Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani, who suffered a stunnigng 12-21, 12-21 defeat at the hands of the Popov brothers – Christo ad Toma Junior, of France.
In the women’s doubles, another pair of siblings, this time Gabriela Stoeva-Stefani Stoeva,, upset seventh seeds Li Yi Jing-Luo Xu Min 21-15, 21-17.
Seventh seeded women’s singles Thai player Ratchanok Intanon, retired injured against Singapore’s Yeo Jia Min with the score at 21-12, 6-11.
Also out of contention is fifth seed Han Yue, who was beaten 22-20, 17-21, 18-21 by Japan’s Riko Gunji.
