Published By: Siddarth Sriram
Last Updated: July 21, 2023, 18:53 IST
South Korea
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (R) and Chirag Shetty of India celebrate after winning. (Credit: AFP)
The world No.3 Indian combination, seeded third here, will next take on second seeds Wei Keng Liang and Chang Wang of China, who are the 2021 world champions.
Star Indian men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty entered the semifinals of the Korea Open Super 500 tournament with a straight-game win over Japan’s Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi here on Friday.
The world No.3 Indian combination, seeded third here, took just 40 minutes to get the better of the fifth-seeded Japanese pair 21-14 21-17.
News Flash:Satwik/Chirag knock OUT 2021 World Champions & former World No. 1 duo Takuro/Kobayashi 21-14, 21-17.➡️ Its 3rd consecutive win for Satchi against Japanese pair.➡️ The star Indian duo are through to Semis of Korea Open with the win. #KoreaOpenSuper500 pic.twitter.com/LDfDtFIbgc— India_AllSports (@India_AllSports) July 21, 2023
Satwik and Chirag will take on second seeds Wei Keng Liang and Chang Wang of China, who are the 2021 world champions in men’s doubles.
Satwik and Chirag are now India’s flag-bearers in the tournament after the premature exits of PV Sindhu, HS Prannoy, and Kidambi Srikanth among others.
Playing their first tournament since winning the Indonesia Open Super 1000 last month, it was a neck-and-neck affair till the first six points before the Indians surged ahead pocketing four straight points.
Once ahead, Satwik and Chirag managed to keep their nose in front to bag the first game easily.
The Indians made a slow start in the second game as they trailed 3-6, but lifted their game just in time to claw back to grab six consecutive points to lead 14-9.
The Japanese pair, however, were in no mood to give up without a fight. They played aggressively and were also helped by some unforced errors by the Indians to draw level at 16-16.
But Satwik and Chirag stepped up on the accelerator at that point to win the game to assure themselves a place in the last-four stage.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI)
