Badminton
Swiss Open 2026: Satwik-Chirag win thriller to reach quarters
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty won a thrilling decider 28-26.
Chirag Shetty (left) expressed displeasure after yet another semi-final exit. (Photo credit: BAI Media)
The Indian badminton men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty survived a massive scare to enter the quarter-finals of the 2026 Swiss Open Super 300 on Thursday.
Up against a lower ranked Hiroki Okamura and Kyohei Yamashita of Japan, the Indians registered a hard fought 21-15, 15-21, 28-26 victory after a 74-minute long battle.
The decider was an exciting battle with neither pair willing to give the other an inch. Right from 13-13 in the game, neither pair was able to cling on to the required two-point lead.
Rankireddy and Shetty will next face off against Christian Kjaer and Rasmus Kjaer of Denmark in the quarter-finals on Thursday.
Elsewhere, Tharun Mannepalli also made it to the quarter-finals in men's singles. The Indian beat Justin Hoh of Malaysia 21-14, 22-20 in 43 minutes.
Mannepalli will face Indonesia's Anthony Ginting in the next match.
Kiran George, Tanisha-Dhruv exit
Among the other Indians in action, Kiran George went down 18-21, 21-16, 16-21 to Hong Kong's Jason Gunawan in 70 minutes.
Kiran had earlier stunned former world champion Loh Kean Yew of Indonesia in the first round.
Meanwhile in mixed doubles, Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila crashed out in the pre-quarterfinals following 15-21, 17-21 straight games loss at the hands of China’s Gao Jia Xuan and Wu Meng Ying.
The Indian men's doubles pair of Hariharan Amsakarunan and MR Arjun also suffered a same fate in the Round of 16, losing 17-21, 11-21 to the pair from Chinese Taipei.
Malvika Bansod, the only Indian left in contention in women's singles, also bowed out after suffering a 11-21 15-21 to world No 4 Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand.