French Open: Satwik-Chirag enter finals after solid show

Paris: Indian men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty defeated Hiroyuki Endo-Yuta Watanabe 21-11, 25-23 to advance to the final of the French Open here on Saturday night.

In the semis, Satwiksairaj and Chirag coasted to a 21-11 win in the first game after leading 11-5 at the halftime break. The pair was pushed to their limits by the Japanese in the second game after leading 11-8 at the break as they saved multiple match points, but in the end the Japanese lost 25-23.

Earlier, India's top-ranked pair of Satwiksairaj and Chirag continued with their imperious form and shocked Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen to enter the semi-finals.

The Indian duo, which had claimed its maiden Super 500 title at the Thailand Open in August this year, shocked the World No. 8 Danish 21-13, 22-20 in a 39-minute quarter-final encounter.

Meanwhile, on Friday, world champion P.V. Sindhu lost to World No. 1 Tai Tzu Ying 21-16, 24-26, 21-17 in an intense last-eight match which lasted for 75 minutes. It was a fierce battle between the two ace shuttlers as long rallies, jaw-dropping drops and never-say-die attitude were on display in a gruelling quarter-final clash at the Stade Pierre de Coubertin.