Indonesia Masters: Satwik-Chirag and Lakshya Sen crash out in second round

Indian shuttlers had a forgettable second round, suffering three close defeats on Thursday at the Indonesia Masters Super 500 Tournament, held at the Istora Senayan in Jakarta, Indonesia.

The Indian men’s doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty endured a hard-fought straight-game (20-22, 21-23) loss, while Lakshya Sen fell short against Kenta Nishimoto in a tight three-game encounter.

A missed opportunity for Satwik-Chirag

The fourth-seeded Indian men’s doubles pair of Satwik and Chirag faced the Thai duo of Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Kittinupong Kedren in the second round.

The Indian pair had a shaky start and trailed 10-15 in the opening game. However, they mounted an impressive comeback, winning six consecutive points to earn three game points at 20-17.

Despite this advantage, they squandered the opportunity, losing five consecutive points to drop the first game 20-22 from a winning position.

The second game followed a similar pattern, with the Indian pair trailing 12-15 before staging another comeback to secure a game-point opportunity. However, an unforced error at the net by Chirag led to a deuce.

The Thai pair capitalized on the momentum, saving five game-point opportunities across the two games, and clinched the match to secure their spot in the quarterfinals.

Another close defeat for Lakshya Sen

Indian men’s singles player Lakshya Sen once again failed to progress beyond the early rounds, succumbing to a close three-game defeat (16-21, 21-12, 23-21) against Kenta Nishimoto of Japan in the second round.

Lakshya staged a strong comeback to force a decider, displaying brilliant defensive skills in the final game. However, his efforts fell short as Nishimoto held his nerve to close out the match, ending Lakshya’s campaign in the second round.

The Indian mixed doubles pair of Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto also suffered a narrow three-game defeat (21-18, 15-21, 19-21) against the Malaysian duo of Cheng Su Yin and Hoo Pang Ron.

Tanisha, however, still has a chance to reach the quarterfinals, as she and her women’s doubles partner, Ashwini Ponnappa, will be in action in their second-round match later tonight.