Defending champions Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty launched their Thailand Open campaign with a gritty three-game victory over Indonesia’s Putra Erwiansyah and Bagas Maulana at Bangkok’s Nimibutr Stadium on Tuesday.
The world No. 4 Indian duo, seeded first in the tournament, recovered from a slow start to secure a 21-19, 23-21, 21-10 win in one hour and four minutes. After falling behind 16-11 in the opening game, they surged with seven consecutive points to seize control and narrowly take the first set. The Indonesian pair fought back to claim the second game 23-21, leveling the match and forcing a decider. However, Satwik and Chirag dominated the final game from the outset, wrapping up the hard-fought victory.
The Indian pair is chasing their third Thailand Open title, having previously won the BWF Super 500 event in 2019 and 2024.
Other Indian players also began their campaigns on opening day. MR Arjun and Hariharan Amsakarunan, along with women’s doubles pair Rutaparna Panda and Swetaparna Panda, were set to play later. In men’s singles qualifiers, Manav Choudhary pushed Olympic bronze medalist Lee Zii Jia before losing 21-19, 21-18. Anushka Shahapurkar fell 21-5, 21-7 to Thailand’s Yataweemin Ketklieng in women’s singles qualifiers. The mixed doubles pair of Mohit Jaglan and Lakshita Jaglan lost 21-11, 21-18 to Tsai Fu-Cheng and Sung Yu-Hsuan of Chinese Taipei.