Lakshya Sen, Satwik-Chirag pair bow out of Indonesia Masters Open
JAKARTA, Jan 23: India’s campaign came to an early end at the Indonesia Masters Super 500 badminton tournament after Lakshya Sen and the star men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty crashed out in the second round here on Thursday.
Sen, ranked 10th in the world, extended his struggling run on the international circuit with a loss in the men’s singles second round against Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto 16-21 21-12 21-23 in 50 minutes.
If that was not enough, Asian Games champions Satwik and Chirag, who reached back-to-back semifinals at Malaysia Super 1000 and India Super 750 in the last two weeks, also exited from the tournament with a hard-fought 20-22 21-23 loss against Thai combination of Kittinupong Kedren and Dechapol Puavaranukroh.
Earlier in the day, the mixed doubles pair of Dhruv Kapila and Tanshia Crasto squandered an early lead to go down 21-18 15-21 19-21 against Malaysia’s Pang Ron Hoo and Su Yin Cheng in the second round.
The women’s doubles pair of seasoned Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto too fell by the wayside, losing a hard-fought three-game second round match 21-13 22-24 18-21 against Malaysian combination of Pei Kee Go and Mei Xing Teoh. (PTI)