Changzhou

India's top men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty advanced to the quarterfinals of the China Open Super 1000 badminton tournament with a straight-game win over Indonesia's Leo Rolly Carnando and Bagas Maulana here on Thursday.

The former world number one duo displayed tactical discipline and composure to notch up a 21-19 21-19 victory over the eighth-seeded Indonesian combination in a tightly-contested encounter.

"It was quite a topsy-turvy match — just back and forth the whole time.

We didn’t really have a sizable lead, and neither did they. Eventually, I think around 16-something, we finally had that breakthrough — got 3–4 points in a row and managed to close out the first game," Chirag said.

"But I think, at the start of the second game, we could have been a bit more composed. Not safer exactly — just calmer. I feel like we could’ve restricted them a bit more. That said, they played some really good badminton too — especially on service receive. But yeah, overall, happy we could finally get that win."

It was the end of the road for HS Prannoy, who bowed out after a hard-fought 21-18 15-21 8-21 loss to sixth seed Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei in a 65-minute men's singles second-round match.

Satwik and Chirag were made to work hard for their win as both games witnessed frequent shifts in momentum.

In the opening game, the Indonesians held a slender lead at 8-6 and later at 14-12, but the Indians kept themselves within touching distance.

From 14-16, the Indian pair won five straight points to surge ahead 19-16 before closing out the opening game.

The second game followed a similar pattern, with Leo and Bagas taking a 14-10 lead at one stage. But the Indians clawed their way back to level the scores at 18-18 and held their nerve in the closing stages to seal the match.

"Yeah, I think with each passing day, we’re definitely feeling better. There’s still a long way to go — I wouldn’t say we’re at our best just yet. But I’m happy with the way we’ve been playing," Chirag said.

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"We haven’t played that many tournaments over the past year, so that’s one of the reasons we’ve entered Macau."