Two of a mind

kuala lumpur: Star Indian men’s doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty advanced to the semifinals of the Malaysia Open with a gritty victory here on Friday.

The seventh-seeded Indians battled for 49 minutes to secure a 26-24 21-15 win over the Malaysian duo of Yew Sin Ong and Ee Yi Teo in the quarterfinals of the prestigious Super 1000 tournament.

Satwiksairaj and Chirag, runners-up in the previous edition, will face South Korea’s Won Ho Kim and Seung Jae Seo in the semifinals.

The opening game was a nail-biter, with both pairs keeping the contest evenly poised. The Indians held a narrow 11-9 lead at the interval and extended it to 18-16, but the Malaysians rallied, earning three consecutive points to level at 19-19 and even snatched a 20-19 lead.

Undeterred, Satwiksairaj and Chirag displayed remarkable composure, saving four consecutive game points before closing the first game 26-24.

After the game Satwiksairaj would go on to recollect the past first-game skirmishes with the Malaysians.

“It’s always like that when playing against them,” he said. “The first game is always crucial playing against them. We were leading 19-16 in the first game, but they came back with the crowd supporting them. We did know we were playing a Malaysian pair so the crowd would be huge. But even we have a lot of fans here! We stayed positive and I’m really happy with the way we stayed in the crucial parts.” In the second game, the Malaysian pair started strong, leading for most of the game up to the interval with an 11-8 advantage. However, the Indians staged an incredible comeback, winning 13 of the next 17 points to seal the match and book their third consecutive semifinals berth.

“This is a good start to the year, we couldn’t have started on a better note. We want to still go as deep in the tournament as possible,” Chirag Shetty said after their win. “As athletes, these are the kind of stadiums you want to play in. You want to play in packed arenas in the crucial parts of a tournament. We really could not have asked for a better crowd. Obviously the crowd was supporting the local pair. But as a professional athlete, this is one of the best stadiums to play in,” he added.