Satwiksairaj-Chirag pull out of India Open due to injury

The world No. 5 Indian pair pulled out of the India Open Super 750 after Satwiksairaj Rankireddy suffered a hip injury.

Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy during their doubles badminton match with Christopher Grimley and Matthew Grimley of Scotland at the India Open 2023, in New Delhi. | Photo Credit: PTI

Defending champion Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty on Thursday pulled out of the India Open Super 750 after the former suffered a hip injury.

“Satwik pulled his left hip adductor, so decided to concede the match,” Chirag said.

Earlier, the Badminton Association of India (BAI) had said in an update that Satwik had suffered a groin injury.

The world No. 5 Indian pair was scheduled to take on China’s Liu Yu Chen and Ou Xuan Yi, who had claimed the BWF World Tour Finals in December last year, in the round of 16.

Satwik and Chirag had claimed a semi-final finish at the Malaysia Open Super 1000 tournament in Kuala Lumpur last week.

The pair broke new ground in 2022, winning two World tour titles - the India Open Super 500 and French Open Super 750, securing the Commonwealth Games gold, anchoring India’s epic Thomas Cup triumph, and bagging a maiden bronze at the World Championships.