Bangkok [Thailand], May 12 : Reigning Asian Games champions Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty kicked off their Thailand Open campaign with a gritty victory at Bangkok's Nimibutr Stadium on Tuesday.
The top-seeded Indian duo, currently ranked world No 4, overcame Indonesia's unranked pair of Putra Erwiansyah and Bagas Maulana 21-19, 23-21, 21-10 in a closely fought opening-round clash to storm into the second round.
After a slow start that saw them fall behind 16-11, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty produced a stunning comeback, reeling off seven consecutive points to wrest control and narrowly pocket the opening game, according to Olympics.com.
The momentum shifted in the second game as the Indonesian duo bounced back from 11-9 down to force a tense finish, eventually taking the game to draw level and push the match into a decider.
But the Indian pair responded dominantly in the final game, controlling proceedings from the outset and sealing the hard-fought victory in one hour and four minutes.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty are eyeing their third Thailand Open title. They previously won the BWF Super 500 tournament twice, in 2019 and 2024.
MR Arjun and Hariharan Amsakarunan, along with India's women's doubles pair Rutaparna Panda and Swetaparna Panda, are set to begin their main draw campaigns later in the day.
In the men's singles qualifiers, Manav Choudhary pushed Lee Zii Jia, the 2024 Summer Olympics bronze medallist, in a spirited contest before going down 21-19, 21-18.
Meanwhile, Anushka Shahapurkar bowed out in the women's singles qualifiers after suffering a 21-5, 21-7 defeat to Thailand's Yataweemin Ketklieng.
Mohit Jaglan and Lakshita Jaglan's mixed doubles campaign also ended in the qualifiers after a 21-11, 21-18 defeat to Tsai Fu-Cheng and Sung Yu-Hsuan of Chinese Taipei.
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