Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty stormed into the semifinals of the China Masters BWF Super-750 tournament with a hard fought 21-16, 21-19 victory against Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen in Shenzhen on Friday. The Indian challenge ended in the men’s singles, however, after unseeded Lakshya Sen lost to third seed Anders Antonsen of Denmark 18-21, 15-21 in the quarterfinals.
The sixth seeded Indians took 47 minutes to record their fourth victory against the second seeded Danes in 10 meetings. The Indians dominated the first game but faced stiff resistance in the second. Hitting smashes with ease, the tall pair took an early lead in the first game and widened the gap to 14-8.
The Danes struggled to keep pace, changing their strategy in the second to play a flat game. The ploy worked and both teams battled hard for each point. Satwik made a couple of service faults in the second game which allowed the Danes to secure a two-point lead before the break. However, the Indians pounced at every small opportunity to smash hard. The Danes were unable to stop the Indians towards the end of the second game.
Satwik said that having made the semifinals, there was no pressure on them now. "There were so many downs for us in the last three months. Our coach Boe left. Mentally and physically it was very bad. But now our mindset is very clear. Olympics is over and we will have a fresh start and there is no pressure. We want to go little deep into this tournament," Satwik said.
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