Macau Open: Satwik-Chirag advance; Treesa-Gayatri stunned

India’s star men’s doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty put on a dominant display to enter the second round of the Macau Open Super 300 tournament with a comfortable straight-game win over Malaysia’s Low Hang Yee and Ng Eng Cheong.

The reigning Asian Games champions, who also re-entered the top 10 of the BWF world rankings earlier in the day, won their opening round 21-13, 21-15 in just 36 minutes.

The Indian duo started with high intensity and quickly built a 6-1 lead. Though their Malaysian opponents narrowed the gap to 10-9, Satwik and Chirag regained their rhythm and closed out the first game with ease.

In the second game, the Malaysians stayed close until 13-14, but the Indians found another gear, stringing together four consecutive points to seal the match.

Treesa-Gayatri

In contrast, it was a disappointing outing for top-seeded women’s doubles pair Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, currently ranked World No.11. The highly rated duo suffered an early upset, losing to Chinese Taipei’s Lin Xiao Min and Peng Yu Wei in a tightly contested three-game match.

Despite taking the first game 21-16, the Indian pair couldn’t hold off a spirited fightback, eventually going down 20-22, 15-21. The match lasted an hour and marked a frustrating start to their campaign.

In women’s singles qualifiers, Anmol Kharb and Tasnim Mir advanced to the main draw with clinical performances. Anmol dispatched Keisha Fatimah Azzahra of Azerbaijan 21-11, 21-13, while Tasnim overcame a stiff challenge from Thailand’s Tidapron Kleebyeesun 21-14, 13-21, 21-17.

However, the path ahead will be tough, Tasnim is set to take on World No.5 Chen Yu Fei, while Anmol faces Thailand’s second seed Busanan Ongbamrungphan in the first round of the main draw.

Among other Indian results, the men’s doubles team of Dingku Singh Konthoujam and Amaan Mohammad moved into the main draw after beating Law Cheuk Him and Yeung Shing Choi of Hong Kong 21-18, 21-17. They will face compatriots Pruthvi Krishnamurthy Roy and Sai Pratheek K in the next round.

In mixed doubles, Thandrangini Hema Nagendra Babu and Priya Konjengbam also qualified for the main draw and are set to face Thailand’s Phuwanat Horbanluekit and Fungfa Korpthammakit.

Meanwhile, Meiraba Luwang Maisnam couldn’t make it past the qualifiers, losing his second-round match to China’s Zhu Xuan Chen 15-21, 21-17, 13-21, despite a spirited effort.

With promising performances from Satwik-Chirag and several young shuttlers making it to the main draw, the Indian contingent will look to continue its strong showing at the Macau Open 2025 in the coming days.