Satwik-Chirag join Saina in Indonesia Masters semis (Lead)

Jakarta Jan 26 (IANS) India s young men s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty continued their impressive show while veteran Saina Nehwal got the better of compatriot P.V. Sindhu to enter the semi-finals of the $350 000 Indonesia Masters World Tour Super 500 here on Friday.

Satwik-Chirag edged past Danish fourth seeds Mads Conrad-Petersen and Mads Pieler Kolding 23-21 15-21 21-19 in an hour and six minutes.

Saina the 2012 Olympic bronze medallist moved past 2016 Olympic runner-up and second seed Sindhu 21-13 21-19 in 37 minutes in a quarter-final.

The singles match was between the two most popular faces of Indian badminton. The contest between the Pullela Gopichand Academy products was expected to be a top match but 23-year-old Sindhu flattered to deceive. Saina 22 was too hot to handle for Sindhu.

Saina was quick to get off the blocks holding a 3-0 lead before making it 9-5. Sindhu did some hard work to go into the mid-game break trailing by two points.

After the break Saina upped the ante and kept dictating the pace of the game to reel off consecutive birdies to sit on a 15-9 lead. Afterwards it was easy for Saina to pocket the first game.

In the second game Sindhu came out strongly. The three-time World Championship medallist rode ona five consecutive points to have a 10-5 lead. But Saina didn t take long fight her way back equalising at the 10-point mark before trailing by a point at the mid-game break.

Saina brought all her experience into play as she wriggled out of a difficult situation to lead 15-14. From here there was no looking back for her winning the second game 21-19.

"I m happy to b on the winning side against Sindhu today " Saina wrote on Twitter.

With this win 27-year-old Saina has taken a 2-1 lead in head-to-head records against her Hyderabadi rival.

In the semi-finals on Saturday Saina will face Thai fourth seed Ratchanok Intanon who defeated reigning world champion and Japanese sixth seed Nozomi Okuhara 21-17 21-10.

The other semi-final will see China s He Bingjiao face Taiwanese world No. 1 Tai Tzu-ying.

Bingjiao upset Spanish two-time world champion and reigning Olympic champion Carolina Marin 21-19 12-21 21-16 while Tai defeated South Korean Sung Ji-hyun 21-11 21-8 in just 29 minutes.

In the doubles match unseeded Satwik-Chirag didn t care about the reputation of Petersen-Kolding. They played aggressive badminton to take the first game 23-21. A strong start enabled them to lead for the better part of the first game. The Danish pair worked hard to make the match out of it after the 15-point mark.

But the experienced Danish pair took the match to the third game by winning the second game 21-15. A 12-2 lead for Petersen-Kolding meant that the writing was on the wall.

The third game saw no pair got headway till the 12-point mark. Afterwards Petersen-Kolding broke away holding a 16-12 advantage.

But the Indians showed a lot of courage in clawing their way back by snatching four points on the trot. Another see-saw battle followed before Satwik-Chirag clinched it 21-19.

In the semi-finals the Indian pair will meet the Indonesian top seeds Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo.

--IANS
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