Indian badminton duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty sealed a semifinal berth following their straight-game win against their Japanese counterparts Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi on Friday, July 21.
The pair decimated the Japanese opponents 21-14 21-17 in just 40 minutes.
Seeded third in the competition, the Indian badminton stars will go up against second-seeded Wei Keng Liang and Chang Wang of China in the semifinal. The Chinese pair 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.
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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.
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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.
