India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty suffered a shock first-round exit after losing their men’s doubles opener in straight games at the All England Open Badminton Championships 2026 on Wednesday.
Competing at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty, fourth in the men’s doubles badminton rankings, lost 23-21, 21-12 against the world No. 33 team of Kang Khai Xing and Aaron Tai of Malaysia.
Satwik-Chirag began the contest in style and raced to an 11-6 lead at the interval before the Malaysian duo started to chip away at the Indian duo’s advantage to make it 16-all.
Kang Khai Xing and Aaron Tai, the 2024 junior world champions, then took the lead and forced Satwik-Chirag to save two match points before the Indian pair eventually conceded the opener in a tie-break.
With momentum on their side, Kang Khai Xing and Aaron Tai went on to dominate the second game, leading 11-7 at the interval and conceding just five more points en route to sealing the match.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty’s ouster brought an end to India’s men’s doubles campaign at the All England Open.
Later in the day, India’s Rohan Kapoor-Ruthvika Gadde suffered a 21-12, 21-15 loss to France’s fifth-seeded mixed doubles duo of Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue.
Meanwhile, Ayush Shetty, the 2025 US Open Champion, lost to Indonesia’s world No. 14 Alwi Farhan 21-19, 9-21, 17-21 to bow out of the men’s singles draw.
India’s women’s singles campaign at the BWF Super 1000 tournament also ended early on Tuesday after both Malvika Bansod and Unnati Hooda lost their respective openers.
Two-time Olympian PV Sindhu had earlier withdrawn from the All England Open after she was unable to make it to Birmingham in time. The Indian ace was stuck in transit in Dubai due to the ongoing situation in the Middle East.
The opening day of the All England Open saw India’s Lakshya Sen stun world No. 1 Shi Yuqi of the People’s Republic of China to enter the second round. He will face Angus Ng Ka Long of Hong Kong China in the pre-quarterfinals on Thursday.
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