India’s seventh seeds in the men’s doubles event Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty endured an opening game loss, but came back strong to win their first round of the French Open Super 750 on Tuesday, at the Stade Pierre de Coubertin in Paris.
The Indian duo came up with a 19-21, 21-9, 21-13 win over France’s Popov brothers, Christo and Toma Junior, in a match that lasted 68 minutes.
In the first ever meeting between the two teams, it was the home pair who rallied back from an early four-point deficit to take the first game 21-19 against an Indian pair that was instrumental in their country winning the Thomas Cup earlier this year.
But the world No 8 ranked team came back well, exposing the gulf in class between the two sides by taking the second game 21-9, and then overcoming a brief period of resistance from the French, to win the third 21-13.
In the second round, they will play the winner of the match between France’s Lucas Corvee and Ronan Labar, and…