Indian men’s doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty beat England’s Rory Easton and Zach Russ in the pre-quarterfinal at the Hylo Open 2022 BWF Super 300 tournament in Saarbrucken, Germany on Thursday.
The Easton-Russ duo, No. 56 in the badminton rankings, failed to maintain the early advantage as the Indian pair won 22-24, 21-15, 21-11.
After an enticing start, where both teams exchanged back-to-back points, Easton and Russ held their nerve and clinched the first game.
The second game was competitive early on, however, Rankireddy and Shetty teed off from 8-7 to win the game by six points and force a decider.
By scoring nine points on the bounce at the start of the third game, the Indian pair set the tone early on in the decider. Satwik-Chirag, the eighth-ranked pair, won the third game with a comfortable 10-point margin to advance into the men’s doubles quarter-finals.
Rankireddy and Shetty will face the seventh-seeded English pair Ben Lane and Sean Vendy on Friday at the Hylo Open 2022. The last time the two pairs met was during the gold medal match at the Commonwealth Games earlier this year, which the Indians won.
Later in the day, 21-year-old Malvika Bansod upstaged Scotland’s Kirsty Gilmour, the Commonwealth Games 2018 bronze medallist, in the women’s singles round of 16. Bansod held her nerve in a hard-fought first game, winning 24-22. The world No. 39 went on to win seven-consecutive points in the second game before an ailing Gilmour retired with the score 19-7 in Bansod’s favour.
Malvika Bansod will face Indonesia’s Gregoria Mariska Tunjung in the women’s singles quarter-final of the Hylo Open 2022 on Friday.
In the last match of the day, Kidambi Srikanth beat world No. 43, Arnaud Merkle of France 11-21, 21-13, 21-10 to advance into the men’s singles quarter-finals.
The Frenchman won the first game, courtesy of a quick succession of points towards the end. However, the 2021 world championships silver medallist found his form in the second game to make it a three-game affair.
Kidambi Srikanth asserted his dominance in the third game, winning with an 11-point margin. The 29-year-old Indian shuttler is set to play Indonesia’s sixth-seeded Jonatan Christie.
Hylo Open 2022 badminton: India day 3 results
Men’s singles
Kidambi Srikanth beat Arnaud Merkle 11-21, 21-13, 21-10.
Women’s singles
Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt beat Aakarshi Kashyap 21-13, 21-14.
Malvika Bansod beat Kirsty Gilmour 24-22, 19-7 (retired).
Men’s doubles
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty beat Rory Easton/Zach Russ 22-24, 21-15, 21-11.
Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen beat Krishna Prasad Garaga/Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala 21-17, 21-13.
Women’s doubles
Hu Ling Fang/Lin Xiao Min beat Rutaparna Panda/Swetaparna Panda 21-16, 21-7.
Treesa Jolly/Gayatri Gopichand beat Debora Jille/Cheryl Seinen 21-18, 21-19.
