As Worlds loom, Satwik-Chirag eye perfect boost

Changzhou: India’s top men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will aim to build momentum for the upcoming World Championships when they compete at the China Open Super 1000 starting here on Tuesday.

The China Open is the last major event before the World Championships, scheduled from August 25 to 31 in Paris, and all players will be hoping to register some wins to build confidence ahead of the prestigious tournament.Currently ranked world No. 15, Satwiksairaj and Chirag have reached three semifinals this season, including the Malaysia and India Open in January, but their progress was stalled by Satwiksairaj’s health concerns and Chirag’s back injury, which kept them out for several weeks.

On their return, the duo made the semifinals at the Singapore Open and the quarterfinals at the Indonesia Open. However, they suffered a setback last week, losing to Paris Olympics silver medallists China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang at the Japan Open.

The former world No. 1 pair will look to bounce back quickly when they open against Japan’s Kenya Mitsuhashi and Hiroki Okamura.

In singles, Lakshya Sen, HS Prannoy, and PV Sindhu will hope to regain form at the $2,000,000 event. agencies