India Open 2024: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty, HS Prannoy Storm Into Semi-Finals

Star men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty dished out an attacking masterclass to join HS Prannoy in the semifinals of the India Open Super 750 badminton tournament in New Delhi on Friday. The world number 2 Indian pair completely controlled the game and varied the pace with their array of shots, securing a 21-7 21-10 win over world number 5 Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen in a lop-sided quarterfinal at the KD Jadhav Indoor Stadium. The Asian Games champions will face Malaysia's fourth seed Soh Wooi Yik and Aaron Chia in the semifinals.

"They have given us some sleepless nights so just wanted to play my A game. I wanted to show them my rhythm. We had a lot of hunger. We are not satisfied. We have another revenge match coming up tomorrow," Satwik said.

Prannoy produced a valiant effort to progress to the men's singles semifinals with a thrilling three-game win over Chinese Taipei's Wang Tzu Wei.

The 31-year-old, who had won the bronze medal at the Asian Games and World Championships last year, recovered from a slump in the second game and showed nerves of steel in the decider to eke out a 21-11 17-21 21-18 win over world number 28 Wang in a 77-minute match.

It is his first semifinal of the India Open.

Coming into the match with a 5-3 head-to-head count, Prannoy dished out an attacking game and constructed his rallies well, keeping his opponent to the back and often finishing points with steep smashes.

One such smash took him to 11-4 at the interval.

Trailing 4-13, Wang showed sparks of his attacking game by winning a point after troubling Prannoy with a barrage of returns. A lovely cross court net shot followed by a smash gave Prannoy 18-5 lead but he missed the lines thrice to lose the