China Masters: Satwik-Chirag storm into semis; Lakshya ousted

Indian men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty produced a solid show to outwit second seeds Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen of Denmark to progress to the semi-finals of the China Masters Super 750 badminton tournament in Shenzhen, China, on Friday.

Playing their first tournament since the Paris Olympics, Satwik and Chirag, who had reached the final in the last edition, registered a 21-16, 21-19 win over the World No 2 pair in 47 minutes.

The Asian Games gold medallists will face either eighth seeds Japanese Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi or Korea's Jin Yong and Seo Seung Jae in the last four clash.

In men's singles, Lakshya Sen suffered a 18-21 15-21 loss in 53 minutes against third seed Anders Antonsen of Denmark in the quarterfinals to bow out of the competition.

In the opening game, Satwik and Chirag looked in good touch and went up 11-8 at the break, which they extended to 16-10 with a flurry of fast-paced angled returns which dominated the rallies.

Satwik and Chirag kept a firm grip on the rallies to maintain the lead, grabbing six game points. A massive smash from Rasmussen and a net error from Chirag delayed the inevitable before the former sprayed one wide to hand the opening game to the Indians.

The second game was more competitive as the Danes dominated the flat exchanges to move to 7-5 after the initial duel. Satwik was called for a service fault at 8-8 but the Indians managed to grab a 11-10 lead at the interval.

Following a tight battle, Satwik-Chirag moved to 16-15 before the rivals inched to 17-16.

However, Astrup smashed into the net again to give a 19-18 lead to the Indians. A well-placed push from Chirag at the backline put them one point away and Satwik closed it with a smash.

"The last two matches, we got back our rhythm. Against Chinese Taipei (last match), it was dicey; we didn't get our rhythm, but slowly and steadily, we got our rhythm back. Today, we were at our level," Chirag said.

"We knew the conditions were quite slow, so, we didn't push ourselves to attack too much or go all guns blazing because we knew Anders and Asprut have a really strong defense.

"We kept our calm and didn't rush into anything. We knew the rallies would be long, and eventually, the shuttle would go down."

Satwik was happy to return to court after almost three months.

"It's been almost three months. There were so many downs after the Olympics. Our coach also left us, and mentally and physically, it was tough. But to be honest, the way we're playing now, it's very comfortable, calm, with no pressure, and our mindset is very clear," Satwik said.

"The Olympics is over; now it's a fresh start. So, we play our natural game, and even if we lose, we accept it. Our coaches, Manu and Summeth, who are ex-doubles players, have been exceptional. They've been with us for the last two months, and it has really helped. We hope to go deep into the tournament."