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 when 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.