Star Indian duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty stunned top seeds and World No. 1 Kim Won Ho and Seo Seung Jae of Korea in straight games to storm into the final of the Singapore Open Super 750 badminton tournament here on Saturday.
The fourth seeded Indian pair prevailed over the reigning world champion duo of Ho and Jae 21-19, 21-18 in a semifinal contest that lasted 52 minutes.
The Indians will play against the winner of the other semifinal between the third seeded Indonesian pair of Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri and fifth seeds Liang Wei Kang and Chang Wang from China, in Sunday’s summit clash.
But it was curtains for Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto as they lost 16-21, 21-17, 13-21 against the Japanese pair of Yuichi Shimogami and Sayaka Hobara in the mixed doubles semifinals.
The men’s doubles semifinal between the Indian and the Korean pairs was a closely contested affair with Ho and Jae holding a narrow 13-11 lead at the break in the opening game. But Satwik and Chirag stayed within touching distance and made a remarkable comeback by earning crucial points to pocket the opening game.
It was not smooth sailing for Satwik and Chirag in the second game as well as they trailed 11-14 in the midway stage. But the Indians maintained their composure to come from behind and upset the Korean pair.
Also read: Satwik-Chirag in Singapore Open semis, Sindhu exits
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