Satvik-Chirag
– Photo: Social Media
Expansion
India’s pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty stormed into the semi-finals of the Swiss Open Super Series 300 badminton tournament here on Saturday. Satwik-Chirag defeated the Danish pair of Jeppe Bey and Lasse Molhede 15-21, 21-11, 21-14 in a match that lasted 54 minutes. Earlier in the quarter-finals too, Satwik-Chirag played a tough fight for 84 minutes.
The Indian pair will now face Malaysian pair of Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yee. Only Satwik-Chirag’s challenge is left from India in this tournament. PV Sindhu in women’s singles and HS Prannoy, Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth, Mithun Manjunath in men’s singles have been eliminated after losing their respective matches.
Together they have earned many successes for India in the past. Has won historic gold medals in Thailand Open, French Open, 2018 and 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Chirag Shetty-Satwiksairaj Rankireddy beat world number 27 pair of JP Bey and Lasse Molhede 21-15, 11-21, 15-21 at the St Jacobshall Arena. The Indian badminton team got off to a slow start and trailed Denmark 11-6 at the first break. However, Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy came back strongly to make it 16-15. JP Bay and Lasse Molhede won the first game by scoring five straight points.
Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy found their rhythm in the second game and made the Danish pair dance to their tunes. They took an 11-3 lead at half time and took the match to a deciding game. The third game was started by both the teams on equal footing and remained tied at 4-4. The Indian badminton players, who won the bronze medal in the World Championship last year, won the match in 54 minutes.
It was Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy’s second win against Jeppe Bey and Lasse Molhede. The Indian pair had defeated Denmark in the round-16 of the BWF World Championship last year. Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy will take on world number eight pair of Ong Yew Sin and Teo E Yee of Malaysia in the semi-finals on Saturday. The Malaysian pair had defeated the Indian pair in the 2021 World Championship.
