India Open: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Chirag Shetty keep flag flying, storm into semis

NEW DELHI: As a packed audience egged them on, Indias mens doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty hit turbo mode in their quarterfinal clash against South Koreans Yong Jin and Kang Min Hyuk. It was a demolition job as Sat-Chi waltzed into the semifinals of the India Open Super 750 tournament with a 21-10, 21-17 win here at the KD Jadhav Indoor Stadium on Friday.

It was a near-clinical display against the Korean duo, who had upset the top seeds and World No. 1 pair of Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen of Denmark in the opening round. In the semifinal, Satwik-Chirag will face third seeds Sze Fei Goh and Nur Izzuddin of Indonesia.

The match began with a fierce rally but thereafter it was complete domination from Satwik and Chirag. The Indians kept the rallies short, launching relentless attacks and criss-cross net play to lead 11-3 at the break in the opening game. Jin and Kang tried mixing rallies with drops and deep tosses but the Indians dashed to an 18-8 lead. The Indian pair soon earned 11 game points with two more smashes. Another thunderbolt from Satwik sealed the first game.

In the second game, Jin and Kang started well, going into a 4-3 lead. But the Indians launched a barrage of attacking shots which helped them make it 9-4. They went into the interval with a five-point cushion following Satwiks down-the-line smash.

The Koreans recovered to make it 13-15, and also won a glorious 37 shot rally to level the score at 16-16. However, Chirag unleashed a smash to douse any hope of a Korean revival, and with a final net error from the Koreans, Satwik and Chirag grabbed three match points. The Indian pair sealed the match at the first opportunity.

Right from the word go, we went all guns blazing. Thats what we wanted, Chirag said. We kept believing that if we are positive from the start, things will work out well for us, Satwik added.

The other two Indians, PV Sindhu (womens singles) and Kiran George (mens singles), exited following contrasting losses. Two-time Olympic medallist Sindhu suffered a heartbreaking 9-21, 21-19, 17-21 loss to Paris bronze medallist and fourth seed Indonesian Gregoria Mariska Tunjung in a gripping quarterfinal.

It is sad that I lost in the third set after fighting so hard. The match was such that it couldve gone either way, Sindhu said.

Kiran George, meanwhile, fought hard and even saved a match point in the second game but lost 13-21, 19-21 to Chinas Hong Yang Weng. However, a maiden Super 750 quarter-final finish will give the 24-year-old confidence.

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