New Delhi: India’s campaign in the men’s doubles draw at the Indonesia Open 2026 suffered an early setback after star pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty were forced to retire midway through their opening-round match on Wednesday due to an apparent injury concern.
The Indian duo, ranked fourth in the latest world rankings, trailed Malaysia’s Aaron Tai and Kang Khai Xing 11-6 in the opening game when they withdrew after only seven minutes of play, according to olympics.com.
Concern centred on Satwiksairaj, who was seen indicating discomfort in his right shoulder before leaving the court. The development has renewed worries over a shoulder issue that had previously disrupted his season and led to his withdrawal from the Badminton Asia Championships earlier this year.
The setback comes at an unfortunate time for the Indian pair, who had only recently returned to winning ways by clinching the Singapore Open title, ending a two-year wait for a BWF World Tour crown. Notably, Satwik and Chirag had defeated Aaron Tai and Kang Khai Xing in the quarter-finals of that tournament during their title-winning run.
In a statement, the Badminton Association of India said the pair would now focus on recovery and rehabilitation ahead of upcoming competitions. The federation expressed hope that Satwik would recover quickly and return to action alongside Chirag soon.
There was better news for India in the mixed doubles competition, where Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Gadde produced an impressive straight-game victory over Chinese Taipei’s Yang Po-Hsuan and Hu Ling Fang. The Indian pair, ranked 42nd in the world, defeated their higher-ranked opponents 21-14, 21-14 to advance.
However, HS Prannoy suffered an early exit after losing 21-17, 16-21, 21-19 to Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen in the men’s singles competition.
Elsewhere, young Indian shuttlers Ayush Shetty and Unnati Hooda were scheduled to begin their campaigns later in the day.
Attention will also turn to PV Sindhu, who recently returned to the world’s top 10 rankings for the first time since October 2023. The two-time Olympic medallist is set for a major second-round test against reigning Olympic champion and world No. 1 An Se-young on Thursday after successfully negotiating her opening-round match.
