Thailand Open: Satwik-Chirag storm into semifinals with dominant win

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty advanced to the Thailand Open semifinals after defeating Japan's Takumi Nomura and Yuichi Shimogami. However, PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen were knocked out of the tournament in their respective singles matches.

Satwik-Chirag Advance to Semifinals

Top-seeded Indian men's doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty advanced to the semifinals of the Thailand Open after defeating Japan's Takumi Nomura and Yuichi Shimogami 21-12, 21-13 in 41 minutes at the Nimibutr Stadium in Patumwan on Friday, according to a release.

The defending Asian Games champions dominated from the beginning, racing to a 10-0 lead in the opening game. Although the Japanese pair fought for a comeback in the second game by levelling the scores at 6-all, the Indians proved too strong to break down. Satwik and Chirag will next face the third-seeded Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin of Malaysia for a place in the final.

Setbacks in Singles Competition

In women's singles, PV Sindhu took the opening game 21-19 against Japan's Akane Yamaguchi but could not maintain the momentum, with the Japanese bouncing back to win the next two games 21-18, 21-15 in a hard-fought battle lasting one hour and 10 minutes.

In men's singles, Lakshya Sen, the runner-up at the All England Open, was eliminated by Thailand's Kunlavut Vitidsarn. Kunlavut started with an early 11-2 lead in the opening game, but Lakshya responded strongly with five consecutive points to reduce the deficit to four. Despite a hard fight, the Indian shuttler could not get past the Olympic silver medallist, losing 19-21, 16-21.

Earlier Rounds

Earlier, Satwik-Chirag defeated their Malaysian opponents, Goonting Bryan Jeremy and Haikal Muhammad, 21-12, 21-19, while Sindhu won 21-13, 21-15 against Denmark's Amalie Schulz.

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