New Delhi: India’s premier men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty continued their quest for a maiden title of the season at the Singapore Open semifinals.
The ace pair, who have returned to action after three months, progressed to the last-four with a stunning straight-game win over the world No. 1 Malaysian duo of Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin in Singapore on Friday.
Returning to the court after battling fitness issues, the Indian pair showed remarkable resilience and agility all around the court and frustrated the Malaysians with their rock-solid defence. The Indian pair controlled the front court with precision to register a 21-17, 21-15 win in 39 minutes at the Super 750 badminton tournament.
Satwik-Chirag eye first title in 2025
After reaching the semifinals of the Malaysia and India Open earlier this year, Satwik-Chirag will be aiming to go all the way this time around.
Ahead of the match, the former world No.1 pair held a 6-2 head-to-head record against the Malaysian pair. However, they were on the losing side in their most recent clash at the India Open.
In the quarterfinal, Satwik and Chirag rallied to beat the seventh-seeded Indonesian pair of Sabar Karyaman Gutama and Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani on Thursday.
The Indian pair showed grit and determination to register a comeback 19-21, 21-1,6 21-19 win in a gruelling contest that lasted one hour and 14 minutes.
This is Satwik-Chirag’s first tournament appearance since withdrawing from the All England Open in March due to the latter’s back injury.
The Indian pair kicked off the proceedings with a clinical win over Malaysia’s Choong Hon Jian and Muhammad Haikal 21-16, 21-13 in just under 40 minutes in the Round of 32 contest.
Satwik and Chirag are India’s last big hope at the Singapore Open after double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu was knocked out in the women’s singles second round clash. In men’s singles, H S Prannoy lost 16-21, 14-21 to Frenchman Christo Popov in the pre-quarterfinal on Thursday.
On the opening day of the tournament, Lakshya Sen, India’s no. 1 singles player, retired hurt in the middle of his first-round clash against Lin Chun-Yi of Chinese Taipei.
India’s no.1 doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will be aiming to go all the way in Singapore after reaching the semifinals of the Malaysia and India Open earlier this year. Badminton Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
