Satwik-Chirag pair eye first title of season, Lakshya Sen aims to bounce back

JAKARTA, Jan 20: Star Indian men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will be eying its maiden title of the year while Lakshya Sen will look to put behind a disappointing start to the season when the Indonesia Masters Super 500 tournament gets underway here on Tuesday.
The world No 9 duo of Satwik and Chirag has been in a fine form, reaching semifinals of the last two tournaments – Malaysia Open Super 1000 and India Open Super 750 – over the last as many weeks and will be keen to cross the final hurdle.
Satwik-Chirag had lost each of the two semifinals in straight sets and their aim would be to go the distance in the upcoming tournament.
They will open their campaign with a round of 32 clash against Chinese Taipei’s Chen Zhi-Ray and Yu Chieh Lin.
The challenge, however, would be greater for India’s singles players Sen and PV Sindhu when they take the court here.The 23-year-old Sen, who had finished fourth in last year’s Paris Olympics has lost twice in the first round over the last two weeks, will be determined to put his best foot forward in the round of 32 clash.
Priyanshu Rajawat will also begin his campaign at the same stage, taking on Japan’s Kodai Naraoka.
However, two other Indians will face off in the men’s singles qualification round as Kidambi Srikanth, who did not feature in India Open, will look to get the better of Kiran George.In women’s singles round of 32, Sindhu will open her campaign against Chinese Taipei’s Sung Shuo Yun, Aakarshi Kashyap will face Japan’s world No 19 Nozomi Okuhara and Anupama Upadhyaya will take on local player Gregoria Mariska Tunjung. (PTI)