 "Indonesia Open: Satwik-Chirag crash out after quarterfinal loss to Malaysia, India's campaign ends")
Jakarta: India’s top men’s doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty bowed out of the Indonesia Open Super 1000 tournament after losing to Malaysia’s Man Wei Chong and Tee Kai Wun in the quarterfinals here on Friday.
The former world No. 1 Indian duo, who won the title in 2023, went down 19-21, 16-21 in a 43-minute contest against the flat-hitting Malaysian pair, who notched up their first win over the Indians in five meetings.
Satwik-Chirag’s loss ended the Indian challenge in the competition.
The Indians looked rusty as they struggled with their serve and return against Man and Wee, who won the Malaysia Masters last month and Indonesia Masters in January.
The Indians also lacked the discipline in defence and anticipation and were often put in uncomfortable positions and rushed errors throughout the match by the Malaysians.
Satwik sent a couple into the net, allowing the Malaysians to edge ahead 9-7. They went into the mid-game interval leading 11-9.
Satwik-Chirag levelled at 11-all with aggressive flat exchanges, but Man and Tee restored a 15-12 cushion. The Indians clawed back to 17-17 after the Malaysians hit the net twice, but couldn’t capitalise.
A quick return from Tee took the score to 19-17 before Chirag pounced on a loose net shot. However, Satwik faltered at the net again to hand the Malaysians game point, which they converted.
Switching sides, the Indians looked unsettled and trailed 3-7 early in the second game. The Malaysians used the flat trajectory and drift to their advantage, and a sharp smash from Tee widened the gap to 15-9.
Despite being 13-17 down, the Indians showed late resistance. A run of attacking points brought them back to 16-18, including a couple of high-quality flat smashes.
But Man’s brilliance at the net and Tee’s curling floater at 20-16 sealed four match points and they sealed the contest without further delay to enter the semifinals.
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