Satwik-Chirag enter China Masters semis; Srikanth ousted
India’s ace men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty battled through a gruelling three-game contest against Denmark’s Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen to storm into the semifinals of the China Masters Super 750 on Friday, even as veteran Kidambi Srikanth’s campaign ended in the men’s singles quarterfinals.
The fourth-seeded Indians prevailed 21-13, 16-21, 21-18 in a 70-minute battle to keep their impressive run going after a silver-medal finish at the Thailand Open Super 500 and a top-podium spot at the Singapore Open Super 750 in May.
Satwik and Chirag came out firing, racing to a 5-1 lead and dictating the rallies with a flurry of winners. They maintained their attacking rhythm to open up a seven-point cushion at 16-9 before comfortably pocketing the opening game.
The Danes, however, upped the intensity in the second game, matching the Indian duo shot for shot. Locked at 15-15, Astrup and Rasmussen produced a decisive burst of six points across two runs to force a decider. The third game lived up to its billing, with neither pair willing to surrender an inch.
At 17-17, the contest hung in the balance, but Satwik and Chirag dug deep when it mattered most, stringing together three crucial points to move to 20-17. After conceding one, the Indians held their nerve to seal the match and book their place in the last four. Srikanth’s run came to an end in the quarterfinals as the former world Number 1 was outplayed in straight games by Hong Kong’s Lee Cheuk Yiu.
The 33-year-old Indian, who had shown flashes of his vintage best while finishing runner-up at the US Open Super 300 earlier this year, went down 16-21, 16-21 to the 25th-ranked Lee Cheuk in a 39-minute contest. Srikanth had looked sharp in the previous round, dispatching world No.9 Victor Lai of Canada 21-18, 21-19 in the Round of 16.
But against Lee Cheuk, the Indian found himself chasing the game for long stretches, particularly after surrendering the momentum midway through the opening game.
Srikanth made brisk start, racing to 3-0 lead, but Lee Cheuk was quick to settle into rhythm. The Hong Kong shuttler reeled off three points to level at 3-3 before turning screws with six-point burst that took him to 14-6.
