Satwik-Chirag, Treesa-Gayatri, Lakshya win opening round of French Open

Paris: Star Indian pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty advanced to the second round of French Open Super 750 badminton tournament with a hard-fought win against Malaysia’s Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi here on Tuesday.

Satwik and Chirag, ranked world no. 1, had claimed the title in 2022. The Asian Games champions made a fine start to the tournament by outwitting the world no. 12 Malaysian combination 21-13 24-22 in 47 minutes for their fifth win in last eight meetings.

Satwik and Chirag, who finished second best in their last three tournaments, will face another Malaysian pair of Man Wei Chong and Kai Wun Tee in the next round.

World Championships bronze medallist Lakshya Sen came from behind to eke out a 15-21 21-15 21-3 win over Japan’s Kanta Tsuneyama in his opening round fixture.

The unseeded Indian will take on third seed Li Shen Feng in the pre-quarterfinal.

Commonwealth Games bronze medallists Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand also progressed to the second round after claiming a 16-21 21-19 21-17 win over Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto in an all-Indian opening match in women’s doubles.

The two pairs are fighting to qualify for the Paris Olympics. While Tanisha-Ashwini are ranked 11th, Treesa-Gayatri are placed at 14th spot in the Olympic Games qualification ranking.

Treesa and Gayatri are in red-hot form, having played a vital role in the Indian women’s side epic win at the Badminton Asia Team Championships in Shah Alam, Malaysia last month.

However, it was curtains for Priyanshu Rajawat who suffered a 8-21 15-21 defeat at the hands of reigning Olympic champion top seed Victor Axelsen.