Riding on their stunning performance in the ongoing Hong Kong Open, India`s men`s doubles pair, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, have managed to reach the semi-final of the marquee event.
The Indian duo were defeated by 21-14, 20-22, 21-16 against Malaysia`s pair of Arif Junaidi and Roy King Yap. The Super 500 badminton tournament`s match lasted for 64 minutes.
In the initial phase of the game, the Indian pair made a slow start when the game reached the stage of 12-all. Later, they started to charge at the Malaysian players with dominating smashes. They gave away a few points to their opponents and then clinched the five points in a row.
The Malaysian duo then bounced back in the second game. After trailing early one, they equalised at 6-all and after that never looked back, managing to keep ahead of the eight-seeded Indian pair for the most part before Satwik-Chirag drew parity at 20-all.
But the Malaysians managed to hang on to take the game, making it 1-1.
In the decider, the Indians upped their game a few notches and didn`t allow the opponents to even once take the lead or threaten them to grab an easy win in the end.
On Thursday, the world number nine badminton duo Satwik and Chirag had edged out Thailand`s Peeratchai Sukphun and Pakkapon Teeraratsakul to secure a place in the quarterfinals.
Earlier, they had also defeated Taiwan`s badminton pair Chiu Hsiang Chieh and Wang Chi-Lin 21-13, 18-21, 21-10 in their opening round.
The star Indian duo will now lock horns against Taiwan`s B. Lin and C.K. Chen in the semi-final of the Hong Kong Open 2025. The match will commence at 3.00 PM.
In the men`s singles category, Kiran George defeated India`s S Subramanian by 21-18, 21-14. He then secured another victory against Malaysia`s Cheam June Wei by 21-14, 21-13.
The Indian`s campaign in the Hong Kong Open`s singles category ended with a loss against Taiwanese badminton star Chou Tien-chen. The match ended in favour of Chou by 21-6, 21-12.
(With PTI Inputs)
