Focus on Satwik-Chirag as home shuttlers look to dazzle at India Open Super 750

New Delhi, January 15

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will be the cynosure of all eyes as the Indian men’s doubles pair will lead the home challenge at the India Open Super 750 badminton tournament beginning here tomorrow.

Satwiksairaj and Chirag, who won six titles last year, said they were “hungry” for more success after missing out on the Malaysia Open title on Sunday. “We are hungry for more and want to do well in front of our home crowd,” Satwiksairaj said on Sunday after they were beaten by China’s world No. 1 pair of Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang in a three-game final contest.

Satwiksairaj and Chirag will be looking to stand atop the podium again, having won the title in 2022. The tournament was upgraded to Super 750 last year, when none of the home shuttlers could cross the second round.

Satwiksairaj and Chirag will face world No. 25 Fang-Jen Lee and Fang-Chih Lee of Taipei in their opening round.

‘Tough’ singles field

With reigning Olympics champion Victor Axelsen pulling out of the tournament, the focus will shift to reigning world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn. The 22-year-old from Thailand is the defending champion and returns to action after having a disappointing outing against Chinese Taipei’s Lin Chun-Yi in the Round of 16 of the Malaysia Open.

“I have not played many games (since the World Championships) so I am looking forward to a great performance from my side,” Kunlavut said with the help of an interpreter. “In 2024, I will try to learn, having lost a few high pressure matches. The focus is to participate in more tournaments as I build towards the Olympics, which will be my first,” he added.

He will be up against Denmark’s Magnus Johannesen in the Round of 32.

HS Prannoy, who is currently ranked 8th in the world, would be confident of doing well after a disastrous time last year when he was beaten by Lakshya Sen in the first round. He has another tricky opener this year, going up against Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien Chen in the Round of 32. And he is cautious, saying that the men’s singles draw is amongst the hardest in the sport.

“A lot of good things happened in 2023. I had never thought that I would win World Championships and Asian Games medals back to back but a lot of work is still left,” Prannoy said.

“The competition is very hard in the men’s singles field and to perform well every week is tough. But this year I want to perform and win tournaments and not be content with only semifinal and final entries,” he added.

A key contest for the home fans will be the opening round joust between Sen, the 2022 winner, and Priyanshu Rajawat. “We are friends and sometimes roommates on the tour. But we are professionals and on the court we want to win. It will be the same tomorrow,” Sen said.

In the women’s field, Aakarshi Kashyap will be the only Indian in the fray as PV Sindhu is still working towards regaining full fitness after injuring her knee during the French Open last year.