Malaysia Open: Satwik-Chirag enter semis | Badminton News



KUALA LUMPUR: Commonwealth Games Gold Medalist Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty played their hearts out to beat BWF World Tour Finals champions Liu Yu Chen and Ou Xuan Yi in three matches to advance to the semi-finals of the Malaysian Open Super 750 badminton tournament Friday.
The Indian pair, seeded seventh here, struggled to overcome the Chinese duo 17-21, 22-20, 21-9 in the men’s doubles quarter-final.
They will play another Chinese pair, Liang Wei Keng and Wang Changin the last four rounds.
Previously India HS Prannoy fought against Japan’s Kodai Naraoka, world number 7, in three grueling matches in the men’s singles quarterfinals.
The 30-year-old from Kerala ran out of steam in the 84-minute contest, losing 16-21, 21-19, 10-21 to 21-year-old Naraoka, who looked faster and fitter despite two long games. matches from previous rounds.
It was Naraoka’s third win over the Indian in as many encounters. He had beaten Prannoy in three matches at the Singapore Open and the World Tour final last year.
Prannoy played a few clean winners and showed a delicate touch at the net to recover from the opening game reversal but his young rival managed to keep things under control in the decider as the Indian succumbed to a lots of direct errors.
Naraoka, who came into the game having knocked out second seeded local favorites Lee Zii Jia in 73 minutes and Ng Tze Yong in 72 minutes, showed exceptional recovery as he collected anything thrown at him, forcing Prannoy to work very hard for his points.
The opener was tied at 7-7 as both showed breathtaking recovery in the gas-guzzling rallies. Naraoka took a two-point lead at the break and managed to keep the pressure on to earn bragging rights.
In game two, Prannoy attempted to engage his opponent in long rallies, using throws and wipeouts and looked to finish with smashes. It worked for a brief while as he trailed 13-9 but Naraoka leveled with four straight points after the Indian made a few mistakes.
Prannoy tried to keep the rallies close and flat across the net, but Naraoka leveled again at 16-16 before taking the lead with a clean kill. A weak net return canceled out a commanding smash from Prannoy as the status quo was held at 18-18.
However, a precise return and a cross smash in no time gave the Indian two game points. Prannoy sent a wide before another superb rally ended with the Japanese sending the shuttle as the match went into the decider.
Prannoy had a foot problem early in game three, which started on an even streak before Naraoka produced two sensational shots on net to win a tight rally and take a slim 5-3 lead.
The Japanese then dominated the rallies with a variety of shots, while Prannoy erred with his line to fall five points behind in the interval.
As the game wore on, Prannoy’s accuracy suffered as he missed the lines on both flanks, allowing Naraoka to take a 14-6 lead. The Japanese was more patient in the rallies and jumped at the slightest opportunity to keep moving forward.
At 7-17, the Indian unleashed a straight smash to break the scoring streak, but a series of errors from a tired-looking Prannoy handed his opponent the victory.



malek

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