French Open 2023: Satwik/Chirag knocked out in pre-quarterfinals

Indian challenge ended at the French Open badminton tournament with PV Sindhu and Asian Games gold medallist men's doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty bowing out in the second round here on Thursday.

The third-seeded Satwik and Chirag were stunned by the Indonesian pair of Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan 23-25 21-19 19-21 in the keenly-contest round of 16 match.

In the first game which was very tightly contested, the Indian pair made a comeback from 13-18 down to make it 20-20. A lot of back and forth happened resulting in the Indonesian pair winning the game 25-23.

Satwik/Chirag made a comeback in the second game to win it 21-19 but conceded the final game 19-21 to bow out of the tournament.

PV Sindhu pulled out of the French Open Super 750 during her Round of 16 match against world no. 16 Supanida Katethong of Thailand due to visible discomfort in her left knee

Sindhu pocketed the first game 21-18 and the second game was leveled at 1-1 when the Indian felt discomfort on her left knee at the Glaz Arena.

While returning a shot from Katethong, Sindhu stretched herself far too much, resulting in an injury to her knee. Sindhu applied the magic spray and sought the tournament doctor's help.

Later, taking to X, Sindhu revealed, "In the first set, I felt something wrong in my left knee but chose to continue to play. However, the pain started to linger. I retired from the game because I felt that retiring was a wise decision to take a closer look at my knee and have my physio examine it."

Sindhu had defeated seventh seed Gregoria Mariska Tunjung of Indonesia 12-21 21-18 21-15 in the opening round.

Earlier this week, the ace Indian shuttler had returned to the top 10 of BWF world rankings after nearly six months on the back of her four semifinal finishes.