Indonesia Open: Satwik-Chirag advance to finals after hard-fought win, HS Prannoy out in semis

The star Indian pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty advanced into the finals of the ongoing Indonesia Open in Jakarta after a hard-fought win over the unseeded Korean duo of Min Hyuk Kang and Seung Jae Seo in three games – 17-21 21-19 21-18 on Saturday. On the other hand, HS Prannoy lost to top-seed Viktor Axelsen of Denmark, going down 15-21 15-21 in straight games.

The Commonwealth Games gold medal-winning pair of Satwik and Chirag extended their overall lead of 3-2 over the Korean Kang and Seo. The Koreans were ahead in the first game earlier and made sure they carried the momentum throughout. Deploying an aggressive approach saw the Indian team closing on the gap, but they failed to overcome the challenge and lost the first game 17-21.

The second game saw a different gameplay from Satwik and Chrirag as the pair hurried to 11-4, thanks to fast-paced body smashes. A few unforced errors from the Korean team also helped the cause. They, however, made a comeback and reduced the gap to 18-15 at one stage, but the Indian Team remained ahead and won the second game and levelled the match 1-1.

The third game was all to play for, as at one stage, the scoreline read 16-16. As the situation got tight, Satwik and Chirag upped the ante and won the semis clash at Indonesia Open World Tour Super 1000 badminton event.

“We feel really good the way we played today. They made a comeback in the third game, but we stuck till the end, and I am happy that we didn’t run away from our tactics. We stuck to it till the very end. First time we are in a Super 1000 final, and so it feels good,” Chirag said after the win.

“They (Koreans) too have a really strong defence, so it was sort of an attack vs defence game. You just can’t blindly attack them. We were mixing it up,” he added. 

When asked about their strategy for the Sunday’s summit clash, Satwik said, “It’s a new day, get back and recover our body first. I was not feeling 100 per cent in the first game. Slowly I got my rhythm in the second game.”

Prannoy goes down to Viktor, again

India’s HS Prannoy failed to impress against the top-seed Danish star Viktor Axelsen, going down in straight sets 15-21 15-21. It was Prannoy’s sixth loss against Viktor against two wins.