Satwik-Chirag, Treesa-Gayatri win opening round of French Open

PARIS — Star Indian pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty advanced to the second round of French Open Super 750 badminton tournament with a hard-fought straight-game win against Malaysia’s Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi here on Tuesday.

Satwik and Chirag, ranked world no. 1, had claimed the title in 2022. The Asian Games champions on Tuesday made a fine start to the tournament by outwitting the world no. 12 Malaysian combination 21-13 24-22 in 47 minutes for their fifth win in last 8 meetings.

Satwik and Chirag, who finished second best in their last three tournaments, will face another Malaysian pair of Man Wei Chong and Kai Wun Tee in the next round.

Commonwealth Games bronze medallists Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand also progressed to the second round after claiming a 16-21 21-19 21-17 win over Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto in an all-Indian opening match in women’s doubles.

The two pairs are fighting to qualify for the Paris Olympics. While Tanisha-Ashwini are ranked 11th, Treesa-Gayatri are placed at 14th spot in the Olympic Games qualification ranking.

Treesa and Gayatri are in red-hot form, having played a vital role in the Indian women’s side epic win at the Badminton Asia Team Championships in Shah Alam, Malaysia last month.

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