India’s premier men’s doubles pairing of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty pulled out of the Syed Modi India International in Lucknow.
The former World No. 1 pair, who returned to the BWF circuit at the China Masters last week since their quarterfinal exit from the Paris Olympics in August, gave a walkover to Chen Xu Jun and Guo Ruo Han on Tuesday afternoon.
It is learnt that Satwik has not yet fully recovered from the shoulder injury that has been bothering him for a while now. Hence, the pair pulled out, marking the end of their season in 2024.
“Satwik has just returned from injury. They are playing after a long time. They had a very hectic week in Shenzhen where they reached the semifinals. It is sometimes difficult to recover completely, so in the best interest, keeping their body in mind and the upcoming season, they decided to withdraw,” B Sumeeth Reddy, who oversaw the duo’s matches at the China Masters, told PTI.
Satwik and Chirag made a semifinal finish at the China Masters last week. With Syed Modi International being the final event on the BWF World Tour, the Indian pair will look to make a fresh start when the 2025 season begins with the Malaysia Open Super 1000 in January.
Even though Satwik-Chirag pulled out, the Indian badminton fans will have plenty to look forward to at the Super 300 event, with star shuttler PV Sindhu and emerging talent Anmol Kharb facing each other in the first round.
Anmol hit the headlines in February 2024 when he helped India win the Badminton Asia Team Championships by winning the fifth match of the final against Thailand in Malaysia.
In men’s singles, Lakshya Sen and Priyanshu Rajawat will be India’s biggest contenders for the title.
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