Indian doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty’s campaign at the India Open Super 750 ended in the semifinals after they suffered a straight-game loss to Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin here on Saturday.
Satwik and Chirag, the 2022 champions, were outplayed 18-21, 14-21 in just 37 minutes by the world number 3 Malaysian duo, who produced a class act to derail the Indian pair’s game plan.
“I think we should have closed down in the first game but credit to them they were really good in the service situations, which we didn’t really expect because probably we didn’t prepare for it. Having said that, we should have been little more calmer,” Chirag said after the loss.
“We didn’t really expect so many flicks going into the game, especially from 15-12 and then we were receiving quite well but I think we should have been a bit more calmer.”
Satwik, who fell on the court and seemed to have twisted his ankle, said he’ll have to take a look at it.
“Yeah, I think I have to check now. I think I twisted quite badly,” Satwik said.
This marks a second consecutive semifinal finish for Satwik and Chirag this season, following their last eight finish at the Malaysia Open Super 1000 in Kuala Lumpur last week.
The Indian duo had signed off with a semifinal finish at the China Masters as well, their comeback event following the quarterfinal exit at the Paris Olympics.
The Indian pair started well, mixing attack and defense to lead 6-9, but the Malaysians seized control by claiming five of the next six points to take a one-point lead at the break.
After the resumption, Satwik and Chirag briefly regained the advantage, reaching 15-12. However, Goh and Izzuddin began pressing the home favourites at the net and errors started to creep in.
The Malaysians thus made a strong comeback with a seven-point streak, which saw them clinch the first game after a smash error from Satwik.
In the second game, Goh read the game well from the front court as the visitors took a 5-0 lead. A lovely return to a flick serve gave the Indians their first point. A jump smash from Satwik narrowed the deficit to 4-8.
Then, a good serve and net duel brought the Indians to 7-8. Chirag kept serving well, but it was the Malaysians who again entered the interval with an 11-10 lead.
The tall Indians levelled the score at 13-13, but the Malaysians pulled ahead with a three-point cushion at 17-14 when Chirag was warned for delaying. Soon, the score was 20-14, following six straight points. The Malaysians sealed the match with a perfect ballooning serve to the backline.
Goh and Nur, the third seeds, are set to face Malaysia Open champions Kim Won Ho and Seo Seung Jae from Korea, who triumphed over fifth seeds Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik of Malaysia with scores of 22-20, 21-19, in the final.
On Sunday, Olympic champion An Se Young of South Korea will compete against Thailand’s Pornpawee Chochuwong in the women’s singles final, while the French duo of Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue will aim for their first Super 750 title against China’s second seeds Jiang Zhen Bang and Wei Ya Xin.
In the women’s doubles final, eighth seeds Kim Hye Jeong and Kong Hee Yong of South Korea will face Japan’s Arisa Igarashi and Ayako Sakuramoto.
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