Top men’s doubles duo Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty was ousted in the quarterfinals of the Malaysia Open 2026 badminton tournament tournament after a straight-game defeat on Friday.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, the two-time world championships bronze medallists and reigning Asian Games champions, went down 21-10, 23-21 against sixth seeds Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri of Indonesia.
Satwik-Chirag’s loss ended India’s doubles campaign at the BWF Super 1000 tournament. The Indian duo made a slow start to the contest, allowing the Indonesian pair to race to a 5-0 lead before holding a 11-5 advantage at the interval en route to comfortably wrapping up the opener.
In the second game, the contest was finely poised with Satwik-Chirag edging a tight interval 11-10. The Indian pair then appeared on course to force a decider as they surged to an 18-14 lead, but Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri responded by claiming six of the next seven points to swing the momentum.
Satwik-Chirag managed to extend the match into a tie-break, but the Indonesians held their nerve there to seal victory and book a place in the semi-finals.
Friday’s victory was Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri’s second win in three matches against Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty.
Earlier in the day, two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu entered the semifinals after third seed Akane Yamaguchi of Japan retired due to an injury.
Sindhu won the opening game 21-11 before three-time world champion Akane Yamaguchi, who was wearing a knee brace, pulled out of the match.
This was PV Sindhu’s 15th win in 27 matches against Akane Yamaguchi.
World No. 18 Sindhu will face Wang Zhiyi, second in the women’s singles badminton rankings, in the semifinals on Saturday.
