Satwik-Chirag, Sindhu enter third round at Worlds

Having an duplicate daylight of reside and exercise tin do wonders for you, especially in a tight competition like the BWF World Championships. But you get this privilege only if you’re seeded high up. Apart from receiving a slightly favourable draw, you also start fresh since you’re handed a first-round bye.

That’s exactly what happened on Wednesday. While the others were battling it out to progress in Paris in the last two days, ninth seeds Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, both having struggled with injuries and niggles this year, made good use of their first-round bye to prepare.

The result was quite evident as the world No.9 pairing was much fresher than Chinese Taipei’s Liu Kuang Heng and Yang Po Han -- they beat India’s Hariharan Amsakarunan and Ruban Kumar Rethinasabapathi in their opener – to easily overcome them 22-20, 21-13 in 43 minutes in the men’s doubles second round.

For the second game running, PV Sindhu struggled to get going before finding her rhythm to enter the women’s singles third round. The 2019 world champion beat Malaysia’s world No. 40, Letshanaa Karupathevan, rallying from 12-18 in the first game to win 21-19, 21-15 in 42 minutes. Sindhu next faces Chinese second seed Wang Zhi Yi.

Shetty and Rankireddy haven’t had a terrific year like previous seasons but it’s been strong enough to be the only Indian player or pair to be ranked within the top 10. The former world No.1 combine has reached four semi-finals this season, but they haven’t managed to reach a final since May 2024 when they won the Thailand Open.

But the Adidas Arena has been lucky for the top Indian duo which clinched the 2022 and 2024 French Open titles in Paris. And they hope to return to the Worlds rostrum for the first time since 2022 when they won bronze.

To make that happen, Rankireddy and Shetty scored a comprehensive victory against Liu and Yang, who only paired up last year after the experienced former top 10 pair Yang and Lu Ching Yao decided to split after eight years together to partner youngsters.

Yang and his 22-year-old new partner Liu have made quite an impact on the circuit, quickly rising to world No.23. But despite their prowess, they fell short of challenging the reigning Asian Games champions.

With Rankireddy unleashing his 400kph smashes, backed by Shetty’s quick retorts at the net, the Indian pair was relentless in attack. Even though it was a little tight at the start, the Indians started taking advantage of the fact that the Chinese Taipei players were tiring after long rallies.

The experienced Shetty did well to slow down and prolong the rallies, which is very unlike the Chinese Taipei game with their shuttlers preferring flatter exchanges and shorter rallies. With a master tactician like Tan Kim Her in the coach’s seat, Rankireddy and Shetty slowly started taking the game away from 10-all.

Shetty proved to be the difference up front. The 28-year-old made good use of his height and presence in the front court, which made it very difficult for Liu and Yang to put the shuttle past the 28-year-old. In no time, the Indians reached 20-16.

But with four game points in hand, the Indians got lax, wasting all of them as Liu and Yang went into attack mode with nothing to lose. Luckily, the ninth seeds did enough to earn a fifth game point, converting it to take the lead.

Unlike the opener, the second game was lopsided with Rankireddy being the dominant player on court. The 25-year-old was not just brilliant from the back but also in mid court, proving to be a superb back up each time his partner went out of position.

After the interval when the Indians led 11-9, the Taipei pair started losing steam and Rankireddy and Shetty sped to victory. Like always, the Indian pair was brilliant in attack but it was their defence that fetched them most of the points towards the end.

“It’s always tricky playing the first match and first game (of a tournament). You don’t know what’s coming, how the courts are. You’ve to hold your nerves when you’re leading. It has happened a lot of times with us. Winning the first game was very important. In the second, we got pretty comfortable, we knew what we were doing. We just kept it very simple and we did what we could,” said Rankireddy.

The Indian pair will wish to cash in on the momentum as they face a big battle in Round 3 against Chinese sixth seeds Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who won the Olympic silver at the same venue last year. The world No.6 pair also holds a 6-2 head-to-head record, having won the last four meetings.

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