Tokyo: India’s top men’s doubles duo, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, exited the Japan Super 750 tournament after a second-round defeat to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang on Thursday.
In a high-voltage clash between former world No. 1 pairs, the Indians lost 22-24, 14-21 in a 44-minute encounter against the fifth-seeded Chinese team.
The result saw Paris Olympics silver medallists Wei Keng and Wang Chang improve their head-to-head record against Satwik and Chirag to 7-2.
Despite a slow start, the Indian pair surged ahead to lead 18-14 in the opening game but couldn’t hold off a strong Chinese comeback. The second game followed a similar trajectory, with the world No. 6 duo maintaining control as Satwik and Chirag struggled in both attack and defence, marking their fourth straight loss to the Chinese pair.
