Sydney: Lakshya Sen overcame a resolute Ayush Shetty to secure a place in the men’s singles semifinals but it was curtains for top seeded Indian men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty at the Australian Open Super 500 tournament here on Friday.
Lakshya, seeded seventh, who had beaten the 20-year-old Shetty at the same stage in the Hong Kong Open earlier this year, won 23-21, 21-11 to set up a last-four clash against Chinese-Taipei’s Chou Tien Chen, the second seed in the event.
Chou, ranked No. 9 in the world, overcame Farhan Alwi 13-21, 23-21, 21-16 in a match lasting a marathon 1 hour, 23 minutes. However, Satwik and Chirag were shown the door by fifth seeded Indonesian pair of Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri with a 21-19 21-15 win.