India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have suffered a crushing defeat in the Malaysia Open Super 1000 badminton tournament. The Indian pair has been ousted from the men’s doubles quarter-finals by Indonesia’s Fajar Alphen and Muhammad Fikri.
Two-time World Championship medalists Satwik and Chirag had reached the finals of the Hong Kong Open and China Masters last year but lost to the lower-ranked Indonesian pair.
Third seed Satwik-Chirag pair looked under pressure in the first game itself. The Indonesian pair scored five consecutive points, after which Satwik-Chirag opened the account. Fajar Alfen and Muhammad Fikri quickly took a 12-4 lead and then took the last five points to win the first game.
In the second game, the Indian pair tried to make a comeback and even took the lead twice. The score was tied at 19-19 at one point but the Indonesian pair won by taking the last two points.
Two-time Olympic medalist winner PV Sindhu has reached the semi-finals of women’s singles in Malaysia Open. Sindhu got the ticket to the last-4 after Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi retired from the quarter-finals due to injury. Sindhu had won the first game 21-11 but after this three-time world champion and third seed Yamaguchi decided to withdraw from the match. Yamaguchi was wearing a knee brace.
Sindhu, who is ranked 18th in the world ranking, has made her win-loss record against Yamaguchi 15-12. Sindhu is playing her first tournament after being out for a long time due to injury. Now in the semi-finals, she will face second seed Wang Xiyi of China, who defeated the Indonesian shuttler 21-17, 21-18.
