Malaysia Open 2025: Satwik and Chirag advance to the last eight

Indian stalwart doubles duo Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2025 Malaysia Open, at the Axiata Arena on Thursday.

The pair defeated Malaysian doubles pair Ayub Azriyn and Tan Wee Kiong in straight sets 21-15, 21-15 in just under 45 minutes and have made it to the final eight.

Outside of this result, it has been a very disappointing day for India, as every other India competing suffered defeats and exited the tournament, including HS Prannoy and women's doubles pair Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand.

Satwik and Chirag have met these opponents previously in the 2024 Thailand Open, with the Indians winning that match in straight sets as well, and in quite a similar fashion, there was hardly a fuss in which 'SatChi' went about proceedings today, winning rather comfortably.

'Looking to go as deep into the tournament as possible'

Speaking to the reporters after the match, Chirag said "Really feels good (to win). Happy to be back on court. It's been a good start to the year, and we're looking forward to going as deep as possible in this tournament."

Satwik had been dealing with a shoulder injury, and since the Paris Olympics, the pair barely played the rest of the year, featuring in just one tournament since the quadrennial event.

"All good (talking about his shoulder). We missed being on tour but we're fresh now, we're good to go again. We've started again with our new coach, so it is all new now," said Satwik.

He further added "There is no pressure. We just want to play as many games as possible and stay fit."

The duo is under their old coach Tan Kim Her, reuniting with him after three and a half years, the guy who brought the two together before Mathias Boe took them to the pinnacle.

"There is no SatChi without him (Tan Kim Her)," said Satwik, and Chirag also added "It is still early days. Really happy to be training under him, reuniting after three and a half years."

The pair will play their quarterfinals against Malaysia's Teo Ee Yi and Ong Yew Sin tomorrow.

Multiple exits for Indians

Apart from Satwik and Chirag, Indians had no reason to smile, with everyone suffering exits in the tournament.

Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand lost to Jia Yi Fan and Zhang Shu Xian of China (21-15, 18-21, 19-21), while HS Prannoy too lost 1-2 to China's Shi Feng (8-21, 21-15, 21-23).

Malvika Bansod lost her round of 16 match to third seeded Chinese shuttler Han Yue in straight sets 18-21, 11-21, and Satish and Aadya Variyath, the mixed doubles duo, lost out to fourth seeded Malaysian duo Goh and Lai (10-21, 17-21).