Indian open: Prannoy's excellent performance, made it to the semi-finals with Chirag-Satwik

Asian Games 2022 gold medalists Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and bronze medalist HS Prannoy have reached the semi-finals of the Yonex-Sunrise India Open 2024. In the doubles match played at Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium on Friday night, Chirag-Satwik won 21-7, 21-10 against Denmark's Kim Astrup and Anders Rasmussen, while Prannoy defeated Wang Tzu Wei of Chinese Taipei in a tough match. Made his place in the last four in the men's singles category by defeating 21-11, 17-21, 21-18.

Chirag-Satwik displayed aggressive play and showed their intentions by taking a quick lead of 11-3. The former champion pair won the first game in just 16 minutes. Before this match, the Danish pair had registered two consecutive wins against Chirag-Satwik. The world number two pair ended that streak by scoring eight consecutive points in the second game and sealed the victory.

After the match, Chirag Shetty said, “It is not easy to win against Kim and Anders. It's not always a game where you're challenged skillfully, but also mentally. Whoever wins the mental battle comes out on top and we did that very well today. We don't usually play such mind games, but today we made sure we didn't play to their tune. The way we started was solid and we maintained it till the end. We are really happy with the way we played, we want to carry the same momentum tomorrow and give our 100 per cent.”

World Championships 2023 bronze medalist Prannoy made a strong start against his Taiwanese opponent and set the tone for the game by taking a 13-4 lead in the first game. A fired-up Wang took a 13-6 lead in the second game and although Prannoy tried to close the gap, the 28-year-old forced a tie-breaker. There was nothing in the third game that could separate the two players. With the scores tied at 16–16, Prannoy took a two-point lead and eventually won in an hour and 17 minutes of play, knocking Wang out of the quarterfinals for the fourth time in the tournament.

Prannoy said, “I think it is always difficult to play against someone like Wang Tzu Wei, who is exceptionally good at the net and in attack. It was important for me to get the first game because he is someone who gets it right from the start. The second game didn't go well, but I'm proud of what I was able to do to fight back in the third game. Shi Yue Qi has been playing well in the last six months and he looks quite strong out there.”