New Delhi: India’s badminton contingent delivered a strong showing at the Macau Open, with Lakshya Sen and the men’s doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty storming into the quarterfinals on Thursday.
Lakshya Sen, who is set to compete in the Paris 2024 Olympics semifinals, displayed grit and endurance to defeat Indonesia’s Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo in a hard-fought Round of 16 men’s singles match. The Indian shuttler edged past the world No. 48 in a match that lasted 67 minutes, with scores of 21-14, 14-21, 21-17.
Adding to India’s success, young shuttler Tharun Mannepalli caused a major upset by knocking out top seed Lee Cheuk Yiu of Hong Kong. The thrilling encounter ended 19-21, 21-14, 22-20 in Tharun’s favour, marking one of the most significant results of his career so far.
Meanwhile, seventh seed Ayush Shetty, who recently clinched the US Open title, exited the tournament in the pre-quarterfinals after a 21-18, 21-16 loss to Malaysia’s Justin Hoh.
In men’s doubles action, world No. 9 pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty overcame a shaky start to defeat Japan’s Kakeru Kumagai and Hiroki Nishi. After dropping the first game, the Indian pair saved a match point in the second to turn the tide, eventually sealing victory with scores of 10-21, 22-20, 21-16.
However, the other Indian men’s doubles team of Pruthvi Krishnamurthy Roy and Sai Pratheek K fell to Malaysia’s fourth-seeded pair Junaidi Arif and Yap Roy King in straight games, 21-18, 21-18.
India’s campaign in the women’s singles and doubles categories came to an end. Rakshitha Ramraj bowed out after a valiant fight against Thailand’s Busanan Ongbamrungphan, losing 14-21, 21-10, 21-11. The women’s doubles duo of Priya Konjengbam and Shruti Mishra also crashed out, suffering a 21-14, 21-12 defeat against Indonesia’s Meilysa Trias Puspita Sari and Rachel Allessya Rose.
In mixed doubles, the fifth-seeded Indian pair Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto was eliminated by Malaysia’s Jimmy Wong and two-time Commonwealth Games medallist Lai Pei Jing, who won 19-21, 21-13, 21-18.
With Lakshya Sen and the Satwik-Chirag duo still in contention, India remains hopeful for a strong finish at the tournament.
