While the Indian campaign came to an end before the finals at the Korea Masters and the Irish Open this week, Indian shuttlers finished on a high at the Bangladesh International held in Dhaka. Of particular significance was the performance of the uber talented 16-year-old Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, who has been fast climbing up the rankings for some time now.
Rankireddy, who is currently ranked 72nd in mixed doubles, was the top seed in that section alongside Maneesha K. The pair comfortably beat the third seeded Viriyangkura Tanupat and Thanyasuda Wongya of Thailand, 21-12, 21-12 in 27 minutes in the summit clash on Saturday.
The duo did not drop a game all week.
Rankireddy and Shetty on a roll
The Indian also went on to win the men’s doubles title with his usual partner Chirag Shetty. The two, who were seeded third, upset the second seeds M. Anilkumar Raju and Venkat Gaurav Prasad 17-21, 21-7, 21-8 in an all-Indian final. The hard-fought match lasted 45 minutes.
The two have been in impeccable form of late and have won three titles in as many weeks. After winning at the India International Series in end of November, the two carried on that confidence to the TATA Open India International Challenge the very next week and reigned supreme there too.
Earlier in the year, they had triumphed at the Mauritius International as well. The success has seen the pair break into the top 100 and they are now placed at 93rd after a jump of 27 places.
The men’s singles title was also won by an Indian player. Sixth seed Abhishek Yelegar upset the fourth seeded Indian Shreyansh Jaiswal, 21-17, 21-17 in 37 minutes for the win.
The 22-year-old giant-killer had earlier beaten the second seed Dinuka Karunaratna of Sri Lanka 13-21, 21-14, 21-18 for a place in the semi-finals.
In women’s doubles, Indian players, in contrast, met with disappointment. The second seeds Jakkampudi Meghana and Poorvisha S Ram succumbed to a 6-21, 22-20, 11-21 defeat at the hands of the top seeds Thi Sen Nguyen and Thi Trang (B) Vu of Vietnam in a gritty 50-minute encounter.
The women’s singles crown too went to Vietnam. Thi Trang (B) Vu, who was the top seed in this category, prevailed 21-18, 21-13 over her compatriot Thuy Linh Nguyen, seeded fourth at this event.
