Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty are through to the semifinals of the Korea Open.©AFP
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have entered the semifinals of the Korea Open Super 500 tournament with a straight victory over Japan’s Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi on Friday. The world No. 3 Indian combination, seeded here in third, took just 40 minutes to defeat the fifth-seeded Japanese pair 21-14 21-17. Satwik and Chirag will face Wei Keng Liang and Chang Wang of China, the 2021 World Men’s Doubles Champions.
Satwik and Chirag are now India’s flag bearers in the tournament after the early exit of the likes of PV Sindhu, HS Prannoy and Kidambi Srikanth.
Playing their first tournament since winning the Indonesia Open Super 1000 last month, it was a neck-and-neck affair until the first six points before the Indians surged forward and pocketed four consecutive points.
Once in the lead, Satwik and Chirag managed to keep their noses in front of them to easily win the first game.
The Indians got off to a slow start in the second game trailing 3-6, but improved their game just in time to bounce back and take six consecutive points to lead 14-9.
However, the Japanese couple was in no mood to give up without a fight. They played aggressively and were also helped by some unforced errors from the Indians to tie at 16-16.
But Satwik and Chirag then stepped on the accelerator to win the match and secure a place in the final four.
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