India Open: Rusty Sindhu and resilient Satwik-Chirag move to second round

Delhi: A rusty PV Sindhu and the resilient pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty moved to the second round of the India Open Super 750 tournament at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium here.

Meanwhile, Kiran George fought hard for his win against Yushi Tanaka of Japan and Dhruv-Tanisha also moved to the second round.

The biggest disappointment of the day was the current world number 9 women's doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, losing in straight games against a lower ranked Japanese pair of Ayako Sakuramoto and Arisa Igarashi.

A last moment entry to the tournament, former world number 1 Kidambi Srikanth gave a walkover to his opponent Weng Hong Yang of China.

Sindhu starts 2025 with a win

Playing her first tournament after Syed Modi India International in December 2024, Sindhu got better of Sung Shuo Yun of Chinese Taipei in straight games.

In the 51-minute clash, Sindhu struggled with her rhythm and tempo in the second game but used her experience to defeat her opponent.

It was an easy first game for Sindhu who clinched the game 21-14 to take the advantage.

In the second game, Sung, who plays both singles and doubles, troubled Sindhu as errors crept into the game of the former world champion.

However, the Indian changed the tempo and started hitting more powerful strokes which caught Sung off guard.

Sung had a healthy lead of 11-4 at the mid-game break but Sindhu's experience came in handy as she won the match in straight games much to the delight of the home fans.

"I am happy that I won the first game of the new season. With the new coach (Irwansyah Adi Pratama) on my side, the win looked good," said Sindhu after the win.

Talking about her struggle in the second game, Sindhu said, "My shuttle was going midcourt in the second game but I was always confident that I could pull things off."

She will face Japan’s Manami Suizu in the second round.

Satwik-Chirag fight for their first win

World number 9 men's doubles pair and home favourites Satwik-Chirag defeated Man Wei Chong/Kai Wun Tee of Malaysia 23-21, 19-21, 21-16 in a 76-minute clash.

The Indian pair had to fight for their win as the Malaysian pair troubled them in the last two games.

Satwik-Chirag started well in the first game and took an early lead before trailing 8-11 at the mid-game break. 

The Malaysian pair maintained their lead till 18-17 but the Indian pair took the lead of 20-19 with some powerful smashes. The game swayed like a see-saw with both pair tied at 22-22.

However, the Indian pair closed the game 23-22 to take the lead.

In the second game, Man/Tee raced to a big lead of 7-1, troubling Satwik-Chirag with their flat and furious game. However, the Indian pair came back to make it 11-11.

The game was balanced till the score of 19-19 but the Malaysian pair closed the second game with a couple of smashes to win 21-19.

The Indian pair struggled in the start of the final game but buoyed by the home crowd powered through to a laborious win and moved to the second round.

India Open Day 1 results (Indian Shuttlers)

Men’s singles:

Kiran George (India) defeats Yushi Tanaka (Japan) 21-19, 14-21, 27-25

Women’s singles:

PV Sindhu (Ind) defeats Sung Shou Yun (Chinese Taipei) 21-14, 22-20

Men’s doubles:

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty (India) defeats Wei Chong Man/Kai Wun Tee (Malaysia) 23-21, 19-21, 21-16

Women’s doubles:

Ashwini Bhat K/Shikha Gautam (India) beat Jackie Dent/Crystal Lai (Canada) 22-20, 21-18; Ornnicha Jongsathapornparn/Sukitta Suwachai (Thailand) beat Amrutha Prathumesh/Sonali Singh (India) 19-21, 21-15, 21-12; Li Yi Jing/Luo Xu Min (China) beat Rashmi Ganesh/Sania Sikkandar (India) 21-8, 21-9; Arisa Igarashi/Ayako Sakuramoto (Japan) beat 5-Treesa Jolly/Gayatri Gopichand (India) 23-21, 21-19; Hu Ling Fang/Jheng Yu Chieh (Chinese Taipei) beat Apporva Gahlawat/Sakshi Gahlawat (India) 21-12, 21-4.

Mixed doubles:

Dhruv Kapila/Tanisha Crasto (India) beat Chen Cheng Kuan/Hsu Yin-Hui (Chinese Taipei) 8-21, 21-19, 21-17; Thom Gicquel/Delphine Delrue (France) beat Sathish Kumar Karunakaran/Adya Variyath (India) 21-12, 21-10; Hee Yong Kai Terry/Jin Yu Jia (Singapore) beat Rohan Kapoor/Ruthvika Shivani G (India) 17-21, 21-18, 21-15