Satwik-Chirag pair reaches second round of French Open

Satwik and Chirag came from a game down to win 19-21, 21-9, 21-13 against Popov brothers, Christo and Toma Junior, in an hour and eight minutes in the first-ever meeting between the two pairs.

FILE PHOTO: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (right) and Chirag Shetty (left).

World championships bronze medallists Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty progressed to the second round of the French Open Super 750 tournament in Paris on Tuesday.

Satwik and Chirag, who won gold at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, came from a game down to win 19-21, 21-9, 21-13 against Popov brothers, Christo and Toma Junior, in an hour and eight minutes in the first-ever meeting between the two pairs.

World number eight pair of Satwik and Chirag will next face the winner of the first-round match between local duo of Lucas Corvee-Ronan Labar, and Malaysians Man Wei Chong and Kai Wun Tee.

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However, Commonwealth Games bronze medallists Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand bowed out after losing in straight games in their opening women's doubles match.

London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal lost 21-13, 17-21, 19-21 against Germany’s Yvonne Li in her opening-round match.

Treesa and Gayatri put up a gallant fight before losing 21-23, 20-22 to the sixth-seeded Thai pair of Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai.

In mixed doubles, Ishaan Bhatnagar and Tanisha Crasto also couldn't cross the first hurdle, losing 13-21, 16-21 to Japan's Kyohei Yamashita and Naru Shinoya.

(With inputs from PTI)