Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty Advance in Thailand Open Badminton

Indian Duo Triumphs in Opening Round

Bangkok, Thailand - On May 12, reigning champions of the Asian Games, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, commenced their Thailand Open journey with a hard-fought victory at the Nimibutr Stadium.

The top-seeded Indian pair, currently holding the world No. 4 ranking, faced off against Indonesia's unranked duo, Putra Erwiansyah and Bagas Maulana, clinching the match with scores of 21-19, 23-21, 21-10 to progress to the next round.

Initially trailing 16-11, Rankireddy and Shetty mounted an impressive comeback, scoring seven consecutive points to take the first game, as reported by Olympics.com.

The second game saw a shift in momentum, with the Indonesian team rallying from an 11-9 deficit to level the match, pushing it into a deciding game.

However, the Indian duo regained control in the final game, dominating from the start and securing their victory after one hour and four minutes of play.

Rankireddy and Shetty are aiming for their third Thailand Open title, having previously won this BWF Super 500 event in 2019 and 2024.

Later in the day, MR Arjun and Hariharan Amsakarunan, along with the women's doubles team of Rutaparna Panda and Swetaparna Panda, will kick off their main draw matches.

In the men's singles qualifiers, Manav Choudhary put up a strong fight against Lee Zii Jia, the bronze medallist from the 2024 Summer Olympics, but ultimately lost 21-19, 21-18.

Meanwhile, Anushka Shahapurkar exited the women's singles qualifiers after a defeat to Thailand's Yataweemin Ketklieng, with scores of 21-5, 21-7.

The mixed doubles team of Mohit Jaglan and Lakshita Jaglan also faced elimination in the qualifiers, losing 21-11, 21-18 to Tsai Fu-Cheng and Sung Yu-Hsuan from Chinese Taipei.