Denmark Open Shock: Satwik-Chirag Fall to World No. 37 Chinese Pair

India’s campaign at the Denmark Open suffered a setback on Wednesday as the country’s top men’s doubles combination of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, along with singles players Ayush Shetty and Unnati Hooda, crashed out of the prestigious badminton tournament in Odense.

The world No. 5 Indian pair of Satwik and Chirag suffered a three-game defeat against China’s He Ji Ting and Ren Xiang Yu, ranked 37th in the world, in their men’s doubles round-of-32 encounter. The Indians lost 21-12, 15-21, 19-21 in a match that lasted exactly one hour.

Satwik and Chirag began strongly, taking the opening game comfortably, but the Chinese combination fought back to level the contest. The deciding game turned into a closely fought battle, with He and Ren holding their nerve to complete the upset and send the Indian duo out of the competition.

In men’s singles, Ayush Shetty also bowed out after losing to Indonesia’s Alwi Farhan in a three-game contest. Farhan took the opening game 21-11, but Ayush responded impressively to claim the second 21-13 and force a decider. However, the Indonesian proved too strong in the final game, winning 21-10 to seal victory in one hour and four minutes.

India’s Unnati Hooda suffered a similar fate in the women’s singles round of 32. She went down 21-23, 21-16, 16-21 to China’s Han Qian Xi in a match lasting one hour and six minutes.

Unnati narrowly missed out on the opening game before fighting back to take the second and push the contest into a decider. Han, however, regained control in the final game to secure her place in the next round.

The defeats marked a disappointing day for the Indian contingent, with all three entries eliminated despite taking their opponents to deciding games. Satwik and Chirag’s exit was particularly notable given their position among the world’s leading men’s doubles pairs.