Indian Badminton Duo Satwik-Chirag Crash Out of Singapore Open in First Round

World No. 1 Indian badminton duo Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty suffered a disappointing first-round exit at the Singapore Open Super 750 tournament on Tuesday. The top-seeded pair, who were among the favorites for the gold medal at the upcoming Paris Olympics, fell to Denmark's Daniel Lundgaard and Mads Vestergaard in a closely contested match.

Despite their impressive victory at the Thailand Open Super 500 earlier this month, Satwik and Chirag struggled to find their rhythm against the Danish duo. The match went down to the wire, with both pairs exchanging thrilling rallies. However, Lundgaard and Vestergaard ultimately prevailed, winning 20-22, 18-21 in a 47-minute encounter.

The defeat marked a disappointing start for India at the Singapore Open. Aakarshu Kashyap, ranked 41st in the world, was outplayed by Thailand's Pornpicha Choeikeewong in the women's singles competition, losing 7-21, 15-21. Priyanshu Rajawat also faced a tough challenge in the men's singles, narrowly losing 21-23, 19-21 to Hong Kong's Lee Cheuk Yiu.

In the women's doubles, the Indian pair of Rutuparna Panda and Swetaparna Panda fought valiantly but ultimately fell short against Chinese Taipei's Chang Ching Hui and Yang Ching Tun, losing 12-21, 21-12, 13-21. Ashith Surya and Amrutha Pramuthesh also suffered a defeat in the mixed doubles, losing 8-21, 17-21 to Hong Kong's Lee CHun Hei Reginald and Ng Tsz Yau.

Despite the setbacks, India's top shuttlers, including PV Sindhu, Lakshya Sen, and HS Prannoy, will begin their campaigns on Wednesday. They will be hoping to put up a strong performance and bring home some medals for India.

Tags: #SingaporeOpen, #Badminton, #SatwikRankireddy, #ChiragShetty, #DanielLundgaard