Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty Storm Into China Masters Semifinals (Ld)

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty storm into China Masters semifinals (Ld) (Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty storm into mens doubles semifinals of the BWF China Masters in Shenzhen, China, on Friday. Mandatory Photo credit: Badminton Photo/BWF )

BWF World Tour Super: India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty produced a fighting performance to beat Denmark’s Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen 21-13, 16-21, 21-18 and enter the semifinals of the China Masters Super 750 badminton tournament on Friday.

The Indian pair made a strong start but were pushed into a decider after the Danes levelled the contest.

Satwik and Chirag held their nerve in the final game to seal a hard-fought victory. The win continued the Indian duo's impressive run at the China Masters, where they have reached the semifinals in every edition since 2019, finishing runners-up in 2023 and 2025.

The victory also marked their second win over Astrup and Rasmussen at the China Masters, after they had beaten the Danish pair in the quarterfinals in 2024.

Earlier, Kidambi Srikanth’s campaign at the China Masters ended after losing to Lee Cheuk Yiu in the quarterfinals.

Srikanth suffered a 16-21, 16-21 loss at the hands of Lee at the Shenzhen Arena. It was Srikanth’s first quarterfinal appearance in a BWF World Tour Super 750 event or above in three years.

Lee's lead in their head-to-head record was also increased as a result of the defeat, as Srikanth has now lost their last four matches in a row to him. In the first round of the 2018 India Open, he was victorious over the Hong Kong player for the only time in his career.

In the pre-quarterfinals, Srikanth pulled off a stunning upset over Canadian World No. 9 and recent World Championship bronze medallist Victor Lai, winning 21-18, 21-19. He had defeated Chinese Taipei’s World No. 21 Chi Yu-jen 21-16, 21-15 in just 35 minutes in the opening round.

Lee's lead in their head-to-head record was also increased as a result of the defeat, as Srikanth has now lost their last four matches in a row to him. In the first round of the 2018 India Open, he was victorious over the Hong Kong player for the only time in his career.

Meanwhile, India’s mixed doubles pair of Dhruv Kapila and Olympian Tanisha Crasto lost their second-round match 21-18, 21-18 against Liu Kuang-Heng and Hsu Yin-Hui of Chinese Taipei.

Article Source: IANS