Home favourites Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty‘s bid to reclaim their 2022 men’s doubles crown ended in heartbreak as they went down 27-25 21-23 19-21 to Japan’s Hiroki Midorikawa and Kyohei Yamashita in a gripping second-round clash at the YONEX-SUNRISE India Open 2026 in New Delhi on Thursday.

The third-seeded Indian duo had advanced to the second round via a walkover, a factor that may have worked against them as the Japanese pair countered their aggressive play with sharp defensive transitions and swift counterattacks.

“They are very tall players, so we knew their net play would be strong,” Yamashita said. “We focused on avoiding their dominance at the net and using the entire court effectively.”

Despite opening up a five-point lead in the second game, the Indians faltered at the finish, allowing their opponents to claw back and eventually seal the contest.

“I think we were a bit hesitant,” Rankireddy admitted. “When they got close, we held back instead of being more proactive.”

After a gruelling 84 minutes, India suffered another blow as rising Chinese stars Li Yi Jing and Luo Xu Min edged past Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand Pullela to book a quarterfinal berth.

The Chinese pair saved match points in both the second and third games before clinching a nail-biting 20-22 24-22 23-21 victory, crediting their success to sheer perseverance.

“We focused on confidence and perseverance, especially in these close matches,” Luo said. “We were behind for most of the match, but patience carried us through.”

Patience was also the mantra for world No. 1 women’s doubles pair Liu Sheng Shu and Tan Ning, who overcame Japan’s Chiharu Shida and Arisa Igarashi in three games. For the top-ranked duo, staying grounded remains key despite the pressure of being the team to beat.

“For us, it’s not about rankings or being number one,” Tan said. “We focus on maintaining our standard and learning from every opponent.”

→ Results (Day 3)

→ Order of Play (Day 4)

WHAT OTHERS SAID

“This is my second time playing with her, she’s very good. But I’m very happy with this performance. I just try to stay in the moment and not think about in the future. I want to keep giving my best in the next point..” – Wang Zhi Yi after her win against Thuy Linh Nguyen.

“I don’t know about getting back to that level because it may or may not be there again, or I may be better or I may be worse. I just try to focus on each match, and every day I just keep trying my best to be better than yesterday.” – Loh Kean Yew looks back on his BWF World Championships 2021 title run and whether he can recapture that form.

“When you’re playing against a top 10 pair in the world, you know they’re going to come back at some point. So they’re not going to give it up easily. Even though we were 19-15, 20-15, it doesn’t matter. They’re in the top 10, they’re going to fight back and we just have to be ready for it. I think even in the third game, we were just trying to hold on to those close points. But in the end, it was their game.” – Gayatri Gopichand Pullela on the narrow women’s doubles defeat to China’s Li Yi Jing and Luo Xu Min.