September 15, 2025

The Chinese players were unstoppable at the $500,000 Hong Kong Open on Sunday. They grabbed all the titles at this Super 500 badminton event, crushing hopes of Indian glory in the process. Indian star Lakshya Sen and the men’s doubles team of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty fought hard but lost in the finals at the Hong Kong Coliseum. Lakshya Sen, hoping to win his first trophy since last December’s Syed Modi International, faced a tough battle. He lost 15-21, 12-21 in just 45 minutes to China’s second seed Li Shi Feng in the men’s singles final. Li Shi Feng, a former All England champion, improved his head-to-head record to seven wins in 14 matches against Sen, who has slipped to world No. 20. This win marked Li’s second title this year after beating Kidambi Srikanth at the Malaysia Masters in May. He also won a bronze at the Asian Championships. For Sen, reaching the final was a big effort, considering his struggle this season with eight first-round exits in 13 tournaments. The 24-year-old showed great spirit by beating some top players to reach this stage. In the men’s doubles final, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty faced tough opposition too. They lost a nail-biting match to China’s sixth seeds Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, with scores of 19-21, 21-14, 21-17 in just over an hour. Both pairs were former world No. 1 teams trying to win their first title of the year. The Chinese duo got their revenge after losing to the Indians in the last 16 at the Paris World Championships last month, where Rankireddy and Shetty had won bronze. Liang and Wang now lead their head-to-head with seven wins out of 10 meetings. A key point was the energy battle; Indian pairs had earlier defeated mostly lower ranked and unseeded teams, whereas the Chinese players won all their matches in straight games, averaging just 33 minutes per match. Rankireddy and Shetty, on the other hand, spent an average of 56 minutes on court before the final, which may have drained their energy. Chirag Shetty said, “(It has) been a good week, especially after the World Championships. A couple of weeks later here we are playing a final. It feels good. As every player would like, you would want to go and win that title. But credit to them, they played well. There’s always a next time, but overall happy with the performance.” Unfortunately, the loss means the title drought continues for the Indian pair, who last won a trophy in May 2024 at the Thailand Open. Despite strong performances, winning the big titles is still eluding them. So, while the Chinese celebrated a clean sweep at the Hong Kong Open, Indian badminton fans will be hoping for brighter days and hard-fought wins soon!

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Tags: Hong kong open, Lakshya sen, Satwiksairaj rankireddy, Chirag shetty, Badminton, China shuttlers,