China Masters: Chirag-Satwik pair sail into semis

SHENZHEN: Asian Games gold medalists pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty stormed into the men’s doubles semifinal with a straight-game win over Indonesia’s Leo Rolly Carnando and Daniel Marthin at the China Masters Super 750 badminton tournament here on Friday.

The top-seeded Indian pair thrashed out the World no. 13 Indonesian pair with a scoreline of 21-16, 21-14 in 46 minutes.

Satwik and Chirag will now face the winner of the other quarterfinal match between two Chinese pairs - He Ji Ting and Ren Xiang Yu and eighth seeds Liu Yu Chen and Ou Xuan Yi.

Earlier in the tournament the duo, got the better of Akira Koga-Taichi Saito of Japan 21-15, 21-16 to reach the quarter-finals.

The former World No. 1 Indian combination displayed excellent coordination by regularly switching positions and changing the course of their stinging attack, which made things difficult for their competitors from Indonesia, who withered under duress.

Both partners fought tooth and nail to get the match off to an even start. However, the Indian combination broke off at 14–14 after quickly taking control of the game with a barrage of aggressive shots.

They soon led 19–16 thanks to some wise decisions by Chirag, and the Mumbaikar then showed his aggressive intent once more by coming to the front court after serving to swiftly end the match with a swift return.

At the half, the Indians led 11–6 thanks to a barrage of smash hits.

The Indians were unrelenting from the start, and the Indonesians were unable to match their attack. The duo advanced to 17-10 rather fast. Next, Marthin produced a pinpoint smash and started the longest rally of the match—48 shots.

The Indians took a three-point lead thanks to a fortunate net chord, and Marthin went to the net to help them secure seven match points.

After wasting one, Satwik and Chirag won a video referral and secured their last four spot.