Satwik-Chirag Suffer Shock Defeat In Opening Round Of Singapore Open

The World No. 1 duo lost in straight sets at the Thailand Open.

World No. 1 Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty crashed out of the Singapore Open after suffering a shock defeat against Denmark's world number 34 Daniel Lundgaard and Mads Vestergaard in the opening round, here Tuesday. One of the favourites to win a gold medal at Paris Olympics, Satwik and Chirag, who had claimed the Thailand Open super 500 early this month, lost 20-22 18-21 to Daniel and Mads in a 47-minute clash of the Super 750 badminton tournament. It turned out to be a dismal day for India as Aakarshu Kashyap and Priyanshu Rajawat also failed to cross the opening hurdle in singles competition.

While world no. 41 Kashyap lost 7-21 15-21 to Thailand's Pornpicha Choeikeewong, ranked 42nd, Rajawat fought hard before going down 21-23 19-21 to Hong Kong's Lee Cheuk Yiu.

Women's doubles pair of Rutuparna Panda and Swetaparna Panda also played their heart out before losing 12-21 21-12 13-21 to Chinese Taipei's Chang Ching Hui and Yang Ching Tun.

Ashith Surya and Amrutha Pramuthesh also lost 8-21 17-21 to Hong Kong's Lee CHun Hei Reginald and Ng Tsz Yau in mixed doubles.