In an impressive display of badminton, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, the third seeds and world No. 3 in the rankings, stormed into the semi-finals of the Korea Open 2023 men’s doubles event. They defeated former world champions Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi of Japan with a scoreline of 21-14, 21-17 in a match that lasted for 40 minutes.
This victory marked the Indian duo’s fourth win against the former world No. 1 Japanese pair in their five meetings.
During the quarter-finals, Satwik and Chirag took control of the first game early on, achieving two separate runs of five consecutive points. They established a significant lead of 15-6 in their favor after being tied at 5-5. Though the Japanese duo managed to secure four consecutive points, it was not enough to close the gap, and the Indians secured the first game with a score of 21-14.
In the second game, the teams were evenly matched at 8-8 before the Indian players upped their performance, winning six consecutive points to take a lead of 14-9. Hoki and Kobayashi fought back with three straight points to level the scores at 16-16. However, Satwik and Chirag regrouped and managed to seal the game with a score of 21-17.
Next, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will face the second seeds and world No. 2 pair from China, Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang, in the semi-finals on Saturday.
Notably, the results at the Korea Open will contribute to the players’ qualifying rankings for the Paris 2024 Olympics. The qualification window for badminton began on May 1 of this year, and strong performances in tournaments like the Korea Open can significantly impact their chances of making it to the prestigious event.
