Satwik-Chirag duo enters semifinal, error-prone Prannoy exits
Top seeds Satwik and Chirag dished out an attacking game to outwit world no. 13 Leo Rolly Carnando and Daniel Marthin of Indonesia 21-16, 21-14 in 46 minutes
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty
SHENZHEN: India’s HS Prannoy made unforced errors galore to make an exit but Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty stormed into the men’s doubles semifinal at the China Masters Super 750 badminton tournament here on Friday.
Top seeds Satwik and Chirag dished out an attacking game to outwit world no. 13 Leo Rolly Carnando and Daniel Marthin of Indonesia 21-16, 21-14 in 46 minutes.
However, world no. 8 Prannoy had a bad day in office as he struggled to curb his errors and went down 9-21, 14-21 against Japan’s world championships silver medallist Kodai Naraoka in a lop-sided contest later in the day.
Satwik and Chirag, who won the Indonesia Super 1000, Korea Super 500 and Swiss Super 300 this year, will face Chinese pair He Ji Ting and Ren Xiang Yu next.
The former world number one Indian duo showed coordination. The match started on an even keel with both the pairs fighting tooth and nail. But the Indian combination soon started dominating the proceedings with an onslaught of attacking shots to break off at 14-14. Chirag made some right judgements and they were 19-16 up soon and then the Mumbaikar displayed his attacking intent once again, coming to the front court after serving to quickly close out the issue with a quick return.
The Indians kept up the tempo to surge to a 5-2 lead early in the second game. A flurry of smashes took the Indians to a healthy 11-6 advantage at the interval. The Indonesians couldn’t match the attack of their rivals, who were relentless from the first point. The Indians quickly moved to 17-10. The longest rally of the match ensued next with Marthin producing a precise smash to end the 48-shot rally.
A lucky net chord put the Indians three points away and Marthin next went to the net as they grabbed seven match points.
Satwik and Chirag squandered one before winning a video referral to seal their last four place.
Prannoy had a forgottable start. He struggled with his length in the opening game, triggering a slew of unforced errors, which put paid to his hopes.
The 31-year-old, however, seemed to have got back his bearing in the second game. In a much better effort, the Indian started matching his rival and played some good shots to put rival in awkward position but his net play was not polished.
