Badminton duo Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty bowed out of the Japan Super 750 tournament on Thursday (July 17, 2025). File
| Photo Credit: ANI
Indian shuttlers continued to falter at the Japan Open with Lakshya Sen and the star men’s doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty bowing out in the second round of the Super 750 badminton tournament here on Thursday (July 17, 2025).
World No. 18 Lakshya’s inconsistent run resulted in a 19-21, 11-21 loss to Japan’s Kodai Naraoka in the men’s singles that lasted close to an hour.
The 23-year-old, who had looked promising in the opener with a commanding 21-11, 21-18 win over China’s Wang Zheng Xing, failed to carry the momentum forward.
In the men’s doubles, Satwik and Chirag were handed a 22-24, 14-21 defeat by the fifth-seeded Chinese combine of Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang in a battle between former world No. 1 pairs.
With this result, Paris Olympics silver medallists Wei Keng and Wang Chang extended their head-to-head record against the Indians to 7-2.
After a sluggish start, Satwik and Chirag found their rhythm to lead 18-14 in the first game, but couldn’t sustain the momentum as the Chinese fought back to snatch a thrilling opener.
The second game followed a similar pattern, with the world number six pair continuing their dominance. The Indians faltered in both attack and defence, slumping to their fourth consecutive defeat against Wei Keng and Wang Chang.
Published – July 17, 2025 11:01 am IST
