Satwik-Chirag breeze into SFs of China Open

Changzhou: Premier Indian men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty booked their spot in the semifinals but rising badminton star Unnati Hooda’s dream run ended at the China Open Super 1000 here 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. The win improved Satwik-Chirag’s head-to-head record against the Malaysians to 7-3. They will take on the world number two pair of Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik of Malaysia in the last four stage.

Hooda, on the other hand, lost to world number 4 Akane Yamaguchi of Japan 16-21, 12-21 in the women’s singles quarterfinal that lasted 33 minutes. The 17-year-old had scripted her biggest career win against ‘idol’ and two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu.

With Hooda’s exit, India’s singles campaign in the tournament came to an end.

In the opening game, Hooda kept pace with Yamaguchi early on but failed to sustain the momentum, with the Japanese star reeling off five consecutive points at one stage to take it 21-16.