KUMAMOTO (Japan): India's men's doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have withdrawn from the Kumamoto Masters Japan, a $500,000 Super 500 event, after being listed in the draw. No reason has been given. Seeded sixth, they were due to meet China's fifth seeds Wang Chang and Xie Haonan in the first round.
The withdrawal comes during the race for the season-ending BWF World Tour Finals, to be held in China from December 9 to 13. Satwik and Chirag were 12th in the race with 58,550 points. Only the top eight pairs qualify, and a country can send at most two pairs.
Other Indians in Kumamoto
- Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly reached the women's doubles pre-quarterfinals and next face Japan's Rin Iwanaga and Kie Nakanishi
- Hariharan Amsakarunan and MR Arjun advanced after Malaysia's third seeds Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik retired hurt
- Kidambi Srikanth plays Denmark's Rasmus Gemke in the men's singles first round on Wednesday
Satwik, from Amalapuram in Andhra Pradesh, won the Singapore Open with Chirag this year. The Hong Kong Open, another Super 500 event, follows next week; whether the pair will play there has not been announced.
