India's dazzling badminton duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who played an instrumental role in India's historic Thomas Cup glory, bowed out of the Thailand Open Super 500 tournament.
It was learnt that Chirag suffered some niggles during the tournament and the pair has informed the Badminton Association of India (BAI) on Monday about their decision to skip the event this week.
The world No. 8 pair had lost just one match in the Thomas Cup, against Chinese Taipei and brought India back into the contest after initial reversals against Malaysia and Denmark in the quarterfinals and semi-finals.
Dishing out a performance for the ages, India's men's badminton team lifted the Thomas Cup title with a commanding 3-0 win over powerhouse Indonesia on Sunday, a historic triumph that will enhance country's status in the sport.
World Championships medallist Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth and doubles players Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy delivered when it mattered the most as they stunned the 14-time champions to win the prestigious team championship for first time ever.
An incredible week culminated in a fitting manner for Indian badminton as the country had never reached the summit clash of the world's most prestigious team event before.
The underdog Indian side had not even reached the last-four stage since 1979 and ended up upsetting formidable Malaysia and Denmark en route the summit clash.
Meanwhile, among Indian others in fray, World Championships silver medallist Kidambi Srikanth, seeded eighth, who had stayed unbeaten with six wins at Thomas Cup, will face Brice Leverdez, while HS Prannoy, who had pulled off wins in the deciding third singles in the knockout stages, meets Malaysia's Daren Liew.
Tokyo Olympian B Sai Praneeth will lock horns with Japan's Koki Watanabe, while Sourabh Verma faces France's Toma Junior Popov.
In women's singles, double Olympic medallist P V Sindhu will be playing a qualifier, while Saina Nehwal will be pitted against Korea Kim Ga Eun.
In men's doubles, MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila, and Krishna Prasad Garaga and Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala, and Shyam Prasad and S Sunijith, Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Attri, Ishaan Bhatnagar and Sai Pratheek K, are the in fray.
Palak Arora and Unnati Hooda, Haritha Manazhiyil Harinarayanan and Ashna Roy, and Ashwini Bhat K and Shikha Gautam will be looking to punch above their weight in the women's doubles.
B Sumeeth Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa, and Raju Mohamed Rehan and Jamaludeen Anees Kowsar, Ishaan Bhatnagar and Tanisha Crasto, and Venkat Gaurav Prasad and Juhi Dewangan will lead Indian charge in mixed doubles.
