For the first time in recent times, Indian shuttlers failed to clear the first round of an international tournament. After the exit of singles players on Tuesday, the two remaining teams also lost, ending the Indian challenge at the China Open Super-1000 tournament in Changzhou on Wednesday.
The men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty lost to Muhammad Shohibul Fikri and Bagas Multana of Indonesia 17-21, 21-11, 17-21. The mixed duo of Rohan Kapoor and Sikki Reddy faltered against Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei of Malaysia 15-21, 16-21.
Despite their 3-1 win-loss record against the unseeded Indonesians, second seeds Satwik-Chirag struggled. The Indonesians started with a 6-3 lead and zoomed to 16-12 before closing the game.
The Indians toyed with their rivals in the second. Scoring smash winners with ease, they took a 7-1 lead, made it 10-2 at the break and won the set with a ten-point margin.
However, they struggled again in the third. The Indonesians secured a 7-3 lead. From 16-14 they scored four straight points, leaving no chance for the Indians to comeback.
