Satwik, Chirag falter in final
Paris, Oct. 28: The Indian men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty’s best efforts went in vain as they lost to top seeds Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo of Indonesia in the final of the French Open Super 750 here.
The duo suffered a 18-21,
16-21 loss to Marcus and Kevin, who are enjoying their 121st week as world number one. Satwik and Chirag had come into the match with a 0-6 head-tohead record against the Indonesian pair and it has now become 0-7.
Satwik and Chirag, who had won their maiden Super 500 title at the Thailand Open in August, looked a bit nervy in the 35minute final. Despite the loss, the duo’s effort is commendable as this is the first time an Indian men’s doubles pair has reached a World Tour
750 final. Partho Ganguli and Vikram Singh Bisht were the last all-Indian pair to win the French Open in 1983.
In singles, Kidambi Srikanth had won the men’s title in 2017, while Saina Nehwal was the only other Indian to make it to the women’s final in 2012.
Satwik and Chirag looked rusty in the match and didn’t have a good start as the world No. 1 Indonesian pair moved to a huge 7-1 lead. The World No. 11 Indian pair had an impressive week as they shocked reigning world champions Mohammad Ahsan and
● Despite the loss, the Indian duo’s effort is commendable as this is the first time an Indian men’s doubles pair has reached a World Tour 750 final.
Hendra Setiawan, before scripting stunning wins over World No. 8 Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen and World No. 6 Hiroyuki Endo and Yuta Watanabe.
“We made mistakes today. We should have slowed down the game. It was not nerves, may be if we could have won the first game, things could have been different,” Chirag said. SAINA, LAKSHYA EYE
TITLE IN GERMANY
In Saarbrucken, Germany, Saina Nehwal and Lakshya Sen will look to put their best foot forward when they spearhead the Indian challenge at the Saarlorlux Open super tour 100 tournament beginning on Tuesday.
London Olympic bronze medallist Saina, who had claimed the Indonesia Masters in January before going through a tough phase, will hope o grab another title to boost her confidence when she opens against Germany’s Fabienne Deprez.
Lakshya, meanwhile, will look to grab his third title of the season after having claimed crowns at the Belgian international and Dutch Open.