CHENNAI: Ace Indian men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty punched theirticket to the semifinals but up-and-coming badminton star Unnati Hooda's dream run ended at the China Open Super 1000 on Friday.
The reigning Asian Games champions picked a comfortable 21-18, 21-14 win over familiar foes Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi of Malaysia in 40 minutes. They will take on the world number two pair of Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik of Malaysia in the last four stage.
This would be their third semi-final appearance, and second against the World number two pair. They lost to them in the Singapore open in May this year.
“There have been tournaments where we have not done so well, be it the Singapore Open, where we felt winning one game would be great, but we ended up in the semis which exceeded our expectations,” Chirag said. Previously, the duo stumbled at the pre-quarterfinal stage. The familiarity of the opponents helped them plan their game. “In the first set we felt no matter what we had to be fast against them and get on the attack as much as possible. In the second set, we knew they couldn't (continue to) play fast, so we focused on the front end. We also ensured that they don’t get creative on the net and not give them chances so we attacked their services,” Satwik said.