CHENNAI: On a day of mixed results for Indian players at the Badminton Asia Championship, the men’s pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty advanced to the semifinals. Facing the Indonesian Daddies Hendra Setiawan and Mohammad Ahsan, the Indian No. 6 pair were all over the No. 3 seeds like a rash.
It was touted to be a 50-50 contest but the Indians asphyxiated the opposition and finished the match in straight games (21-11, 21-12). This means the duo have assured themselves of a medal at the Championship but they will have designs of advancing to the title clash. This is India’s first medal in the competition after over five decades in the men’s doubles category.
PV Sindhu couldn’t stop the rot as she went down to An Se Young. The double Olympic medallist lost 18-21, 21-5, 21-9. HS Prannoy, meanwhile, retired while trailing 11-21 9-13 in his men’s singles quarterfinal match against Japan’s Kanta Tsuneyama.