India’s star men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty on Tuesday withdrew from the Syed Modi International Super 300 badminton tournament. The former world No 1 duo, touted as the favourites to win the men’s doubles title here, had been sidelined from competitive action post the Paris Olympics due to Satwik’s shoulder injury. They made their comeback at the China Masters Super 750 tournament last week where they reached the semifinals. However, B Sumeeth Reddy, who has been training the Indian pair ahead of the China Masters and also sat for their matches, informed that Satwik encountered “difficulty” in fully recovering.

“Satwik has just returned from injury. They are playing after a long time. They had a very hectic week in Shenzhen where they reached the semifinals. It is sometimes difficult to recover completely, so in the best interest, keeping their body in mind and the upcoming season, they decided to withdraw,” Reddy told PTI.

The top seeds were drawn to play against Chen Xu Jun and Guo Ruo Han in the opening round but have given the Chinese pair a walkover.

India’s Mansi Singh, Tanvi Sharma and Navya Kanderi and China’s Han Qianxi advanced to the women’s singles main draw.

Uttar Pradesh’s Mansi secured her spot in the women’s singles main draw after defeating Praisha Bonam 21-11 22-24 21-12 in the qualifiers. She will now face Thailand’s fourth seed Pornpicha Choeikeewong in the first round.

In the men’s singles, India’s Siddharth Pratap Singh, Saneeth Dayanand, RS Sanjeev Kumar, and Malaysia’s Shooleh Aidil also secured spots in the main draw.

In women’s doubles, Indian pairs Kavya Gupta and Radhika Sharma and Kanika Kanwal and Bharti Pal, along with China’s Keng Shu Liang and Wang Ting Ji and Li Hua Zhou and Wang Ting Ji, successfully entered the main draw.

India’s Yash Raikwar and T Hem Nagendra Babu and Viplav Kuwale and Viraj Kuwale, as well as China’s Chen Zhu Jun and Guo Rohan and Thailand’s Pharanyu Kaosamang and Tandarn P, also advanced to the men’s doubles main draw.

In mixed doubles, Indian pairs of Ram Bhargav Arigela and Vennala Kalagotla, Ganesh Vitthal Ji and Shivani Santosh Singh, and T Hem Nagendra Babu and Kanika Kanwal also secured their spots in the main draw.