India&rsquo;s campaign at the Hong Kong Open Super 500 began on a promising note with key wins in both doubles and singles events.
Men&rsquo;s doubles stars Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, seeded eighth in the tournament, overcame Taiwan&rsquo;s Chiu Hsiang Chieh and Wang Chi-Lin in three games. The world No. 8 duo dominated the opener 21-13, faltered in the second 18-21, but bounced back strongly in the decider with a commanding 21-10 finish. Fresh off their World Championships bronze medal in Paris, they now await the winner between Japan&rsquo;s Kenya Mitsuhashi/Hiroki Okamura and Thailand&rsquo;s Peeratchai Sukphun/Pakkapon Teeraratsakul.
In men&rsquo;s singles, Kiran George secured his place in the main draw with two convincing qualifying wins. Ranked 38th in the world, he defeated Malaysia&rsquo;s Cheam June Wei 21-14, 21-13 before overcoming compatriot S Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian 21-18, 21-14. Kiran will face Singapore&rsquo;s Jia Heng Jason Teh in his opening-round clash.
Meanwhile, 20-year-old Tharun Mannepalli pulled off a surprise by defeating former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth 28-26, 21-13 in qualifying. However, his run ended in the next round against Malaysia&rsquo;s fourth seed Justin Hoh, losing 21-23, 13-21, 18-21.
[Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by the Benefit News editorial team and is published directly from the IANS news feed.]

Indian shuttlers Satwik-Chirag and Kiran George advance at Hong Kong Open Super 500

Satwik-Chirag, Kiran George Shine in HK Open

Indian shuttlers Satwik-Chirag and Kiran George advance at Hong Kong Open Super 500

September 9, 2025 | 23:58 IST