China Open 2023: Indian challenge comes to an end with Satwik-Chirag's opening-round defeat

India's challenge at the China Open 2023 Super 1000 tournament ended after the Commonwealth Games champion pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty crashed out in the first round on Wednesday. No player from India could reach the second round.

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The second-ranked Indian pair was defeated by the world number 13 Indonesian team of Muhammad Shohibul Fikri and Maulana Bagas  21-17, 11-21, 21-17 in one hour eight minutes. This is the second time the Indonesians have beaten the Satwik-Chirag pair this year. They had defeated the Indian duo in the pre-quarterfinals of the Thailand Open in June.

Coming just ahead of the Asian Games, this performance must have disappointed Satwik and Chirag, who had done well in the Swiss Open Super 300, Korea Open, and Indonesia Open Super 1000 tournaments this season. The Indian contingent will be hoping that it is just a small blip before the continental showpiece.

Meanwhile, in mixed doubles, Sikki Reddy and Rohan Kapoor also crashed out of the China Open 2023 first round. They lost to Malaysia's Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei 15-21, 16-21. On the other hand, HS Prannoy lost in the first round to Ng Tze Yong of Malaysia. At the same time, Commonwealth Games champion Lakshya Sen also lost to Anders Antonsen of Denmark in the China Open 2023 first round.

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Priyanshu Rajawat lost to Indonesian qualifier Shesar Hiren Rhustavito 13-21, 24-26 while doubles pair M. R. Arjun and Dhruv Kapila went down fighting 21-23, 19-21 to seventh seeds Kelichiro Matsui and Yoshinori Takeuchi of Japan.

Indian challenge came to an end in the China Open 2023 as no shuttler made it beyond the first round. Moreover, Kidambi Srikanth and PV Sindhu withdrew before the tournament, with an eye on the upcoming Asian Games.