India Open: Sindhu and Kiran lost in quarterfinals, Satwik-Chirag in semi-finals

Two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu crashed out of the India Open Super 750 women’s singles quarter-finals on Friday after losing to Paris bronze medalist Gregoria Mariska Tunjung of Indonesia, while the pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty kept Indian hopes alive by reaching the semi-finals. .

The 2022 champion pair of Satwik and Chirag defeated Korea’s Jin Yong and Kang Min Hye 21-10, 21-17 in just 41 minutes. This is the pair’s third consecutive semi-final on the tour. The pair reached the last four of the China Masters and Malaysia Super 1000 last year. Earlier, former champion Sindhu made a strong comeback after losing the initial one-sided game but faltered in the deciding game and lost 9-21, 21-19, 17-21 in a thrilling match that lasted 62 minutes.

“It is definitely sad that after such a tough match, I lost in the third set,” Sindhu told reporters. But I guess that’s the way sports are. I definitely had to come back stronger but at that time anyone could make that point or lose it. “There were long rallies in the match,” he said. I have to be more consistent. But sometimes it happens. ,

India’s only hope in the men’s singles was Kiran George but he lost 13-21, 19-21 to China’s Hong Yang Weng. The pair of Satwik and Chirag started the match with a tremendous rally and then completely dominated. The Indians kept the rallies short, launched consistent attacks and criss-cross net play, leading 11-3 at the break. The Indians continued to press forward and took a lead of 18-8.

Satwik and Chirag soon won the first game with two more smashes and 11 game points. In the second game, Jin and Kang took a slight lead of 4-3 early on, but it did not last long. The Indians made it 9-4 with consecutive shots and then took a five-point lead at the break after Satwik’s ‘down-the-line’ smash. The Korean players made a comeback and made the score 13-15 and won a 37-shot rally to level the score at 16-16.

However, Chirag ended his comeback hopes with a powerful smash. Due to a mistake by the Korean players at the net, Satwik and Chirag won the match by gaining three match points. Earlier in the women’s singles, Tunjung made good use of her excellent drop shot and dominated in the beginning and took an 11-4 lead at the break. The game ended very quickly as Sindhu struggled with her strokes.

In the second game, the Indonesian player took a 6-2 lead but Sindhu made a comeback and leveled the score at 9-9. Tunjung’s wide shot gave Sindhu a one-point lead at the break. Sindhu reached 14-10 with aggressive play but Tunjung made a comeback and leveled the score at 14-14. Sindhu maintained her composure and won two game points and won it 21-19. In the deciding game, both the players played strong rallies but Tunjung took a 10-8 lead.

However, Sindhu reduced the gap soon after the break and kept the pressure on her rival. But Tunjung reached 17-14. But Sindhu reached level with drop and net shot. Tunjung then held three match points and won the match with a cross-court winner despite Sindhu’s best efforts. Kiran had earlier defeated her rival Weng and was expecting a similar performance. But Weng came fully prepared and did not allow the Indian player to pose a threat. He increased the lead of 7-6 to 11-6 at the break.

Kiran reduced the gap but Weng won the first game by scoring six consecutive points. In the second, Weng went ahead 6-2 and made it 10-7. Kiran came back to level the score at 11-11 and due to two mistakes by Weng, the Indian managed to take the lead 16-14. But the Chinese player made a comeback and won the match.

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