China Open: Satwik-Chirag enter semis, Unnati exits
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty reached the China Open men's doubles semi-finals, while Unnati Hooda lost to Akane Yamaguchi in women's singles.
As is the case in most badminton tournaments these days, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty are the only Indian shuttlers alive at the business end. The duo reached the men’s doubles semi-finals of the China Open with a straight games win at Changzhou on Friday.
However, it was the end of the road for Unnati Hooda, who on Thursday had made headlines after defeating her idol and former world champion PV Sindhu.
The 17-year-old went down 16-21, 12-21 in 33 minutes to Japanese third seed Akane Yamaguchi in the women’s singles quarter-final in their first meeting. Currently ranked world No.35, the teenager from Rohtak will likely enter the top 30 having made the last eight stage of the Super 1000 event.
Later, on Court 1 of the Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium, it was business as usual for Rankireddy and Shetty who defeated Yew Sin Ong and Ee Yi Teo 21-18, 21-14 in just 40 minutes. This was their seventh win in 10 outings against the Malaysian pair.
After a sharp start in the first game, Rankireddy and Shetty held off a late surge from the Malaysians to clinch the opening game. In the second, they pulled away from a tight 15-14 lead with six unanswered points to seal the win.
The world No.12 combine’s dominant performance marked their fourth semi-final appearance this season after the Malaysia Open, India Open and Singapore Open. However, they will aim to make their first final since May 2024 when they won the Thailand Open.
“We have played them quite a few times and in similar court conditions. In the first game, it was very fast so we needed to react quickly and get to the attack as much as possible no matter what,” said Rankireddy.
“In the second game, we knew they wouldn’t be able to survive as it (shuttle) was going out. We just focused on the front and were ready since they are very creative at the net. We didn’t want to give them a chance. We just kept on attacking their serves.”
Standing in their way to the final are old foes and second seeds Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik of Malaysia against whom the Indians have a 3-10 head-to-head.
“We are not done yet. We have it in the bank. We can still go further but happy with the way we played and looking forward to tomorrow. It’s always a battle against Aaron and Soh. So, looking forward to playing them,” said Shetty.
