Satwik-Chirag storm into last-16, Sen ousted

Shenzhen: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty entered the men’s doubles pre-quarterfinals with a straight-game win but India’s challenge in the men’s singles competition ended with Lakshya Sen’s first-round ouster from the China Masters badminton tournament here on Wednesday.

Satwik and Chirag, who finished runners-up in last week’s Hong Kong Open, eked out a 24-22 21-13 victory over Malaysia’s Junaidi Arif and Roy King Yap in 42 minutes, keeping their all-win head-to-head record against them intact.

However, Lakshya, who also finished second last week, lost 11-21 10-21 to Toma Junior Popov in a 30-minute contest to bring the curtains down on India’s men’s singles challenge after Ayush Shetty’s defeat in his opening match.