Satwik-Chirag loss headlines tough day

Singapore, May 28

World No. 1 Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty crashed out of the Singapore Open after suffering a shock defeat against Denmark’s world No. 34 Daniel Lundgaard and Mads Vestergaard in the opening round here today.

One of the favourites to win a gold medal at the Paris Olympics, Satwiksairaj and Chirag, who had claimed the Thailand Open Super 500 recently, lost 20-22 18-21 to Daniel and Mads in a 47-minute clash of the Super 750 tournament.

It turned out to be a dismal day for India as Aakarshi Kashyap and Priyanshu Rajawat also failed to cross the opening hurdle in singles competition. While world No. 41 Kashyap lost 7-21 15-21 to Thailand’s Pornpicha Choeikeewong, Rajawat fought hard before going down 21-23 19-21 to Hong Kong’s Lee Cheuk Yiu.

The women’s doubles pair of Rutaparna Panda and Swetaparna Panda lost 12-21 21-12 13-21 to Chinese Taipei’s Chang Ching Hui and Yang Ching Tun. Ashith Surya and Amrutha Pramuthesh also lost 8-21 17-21 in a mixed doubles clash.