India made a strong start at the Hong Kong Open Super 500 on Tuesday, with men’s doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty advancing to the second round, while Kiran George qualified for the men’s singles main draw.
Satwik and Chirag, seeded eighth and ranked world No. 8, opened their campaign with a hard-fought win over Taiwan’s Chiu Hsiang Chieh and Wang Chi-Lin. The Indians dominated the opening game 21-13 with sharp net play and powerful smashes, before the Taiwanese duo fought back to take the second 21-18.
In the decider, Satwik and Chirag regained control with quick interceptions and relentless attacking, sealing the contest 21-10.
The Paris World Championships bronze medallists will next face either Japan’s Kenya Mitsuhashi/Hiroki Okamura or Thailand’s Peeratchai Sukphun/Pakkapon Teeraratsakul.
In singles, world No. 38 Kiran George impressed with two straight-game wins in qualifying. He defeated Malaysia’s Cheam June Wei 21-14, 21-13, before overcoming compatriot S Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian 21-18, 21-14. Kiran now faces Singapore’s Jia Heng Jason Teh in the main draw.
Sankar had earlier cruised past England’s Wang Yue Hang 21-10, 21-5 in the opening qualifying round.
The day also saw a major upset as 20-year-old Tharun Mannepalli stunned former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth 28-26, 21-13 in the first qualifying round. However, Tharun’s run ended against Malaysia’s fourth seed Justin Hoh, who prevailed 21-23, 21-13, 21-18 in a tense three-game battle.