Harpal Singh Bedi
It turned out to be a day of mixed fortunes for India shuttlers, as Commonwealth Games Champion Lakshya Sen made his third successive semifinal, but HS Prannoyfailed to cross quarter final hurdle and in-form doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty’s unbeaten 12-match winning spree came to an end in the Japan BadmintonOpen in Tokyo on Friday.
Lakshya continued with his excellent run overwhelming local challenger Koki Watanabe in straight games 21-15 21-19 to enter his 3rd semifinals on BWF World Tour following Canada and theUnited States.
Lakshya ,who won the Canada Open Super 500 earlier this month, jumped out to a 5-3 lead early on before closing to 11-7 at the break. The Indian had little trouble manoeuvring theJapanese and quickly sealed the opening game with two cross-court returns..
Watanabe tried to stage a comeback in the second game with some rallies . A 42-shot rally finished with Lakshya ‘s backhand falling into the net, giving Watanabe a 5-3 lead .HoweverIndian , who trailed 7-14, staged a superb comeback, forcing his opponent to the net and making good use of drop shots. With a cross-court smash, he turned the tables at 18-17.He secured one match point with two returns on his opponent’s backhand before producing another crisp return at the backhand line to clinch the match .
In the semifinal, Lakshya will face Indonesia Masters winner Jonatan Christie who claimed a comfortable victory over Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn 21-16, 21-16.
Later ,Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen staged a fine come back as after losing the first game he battled it out to oust Prannoy in three games > 19-21, 21-18, 21-8.The Dane willnext face fourth seed Naraoka Kodai of Japan, who beat Shi Yu Qi (China) 11-21, 21-19, 21-14.
The upset of the day was the exit of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty from the tournament. The World No. 2 pairing lost a hard-fought battle to Olympic championsLee Yang and Wang Chi-Lin of Chinese Taipei 15-21, 25-23, 16-21 in 1 hour and 10 minutes in the quarter-final contest..
After losing the opening game 15-21, Satwik and Chirag were down 17-19, but the Indian pair found the courage to save match points and force a deciding game. Theyheld their nerves and came up with gritty display much to the delight of chief coach Pullela Gopichand who was on the sidelines.
Lee and Wang raced ahead in the final game taking a 15-8 lead and never looked back. Satwik and Chirag tried to fight back but the gap was too much to close in the end.
This defeat notwithstanding, the Indian duo’s showing so far has been exceptional .Their victory at the Korea Open was not an isolated event. Earlier in the year, they had also won theIndonesia Open Super 1000, further cementing their position as one of the top double’s pairs in the world. Their victories in these high-stakes matches demonstrate their ability toperform under pressure and their consistency in delivering top-notch performances.
Their consistent performances and a string of victories led to a significant rise in their BWF ranking. Satwik and Chirag achieved a career-best ranking, rising to the second spotin men’s doubles charts.