credits: X
Star Indian men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty made it to the semifinals of the Malaysia Open. The duo secured a gritty win over the Yew Sin Ong and Ee Yi Teo duo in a hard-fought battle on Friday, January 10. The Indian duo took down the Malaysian pair 26-24, 21-15 in a 49-minute long battle. While the Sat-Chi duo got off to a bit of a shaky start in the tournament, they found their way back into the tournament, and secured their spot in the semifinals of the event.
In the semifinals, the duo will be up against South Korea's Won Ho Kim and Seung Jae Seo. Speaking about the game, the opener was a nail biter, with both pairs keeping the contest even. The Indians kept a narrow 11-9 lead at the interval and further extended it to 18-16, before the Malaysians earned three consecutive points to get a 20-19 lead. However, the Indian duo won the opening game by 26-24.
Satwik-Chirag make sound comeback in second game to secure victory
The second game of the match saw the Malaysian duo coming out firing, and quickly getting an early 4-1 lead. However, the Indian shuttlers made a stunning turnaround. Satwik Chirag hit thunderous smashes and won four consecutive points to take control. Gradually, the match shifted to the Indians’ side and came to an end with 21-15 in favour of the Indians.
Following the win, Chirag said that it had been a great start to the year for them and they wanted to go deep into the tournament. He said, "Definitely a good start to the year and I think we couldn't have started on a better note. We want to still go as deep into the tournament as possible and let's hope we do that.”
