Indonesia Open: Satwik-Chirag enter maiden Super 1000 final; Prannoy knocked out by Axelsen

India’s men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty entered the final of a Super 1000 event for the first time after defeating South Korea’s Kang Min-hyuk and Seo Seung-jae in the Indonesia Open semi-finals.

The Indian challenge in the men’s singles section however, came to an end with HS Prannoy losing to top seed Viktor Axelsen in straight games.

The Commonwealth Games gold medalist duo of Satwik and Chirag, seeded seventh, overcame a game deficit to beat unseeded Min and Seung 17-21 21-19 21-18, extending their overall head-to-head record over the Koreans to 3-2.

World No 6 Satwik and Chirag will face the winner of the other semi-final between Pramudya Kusumawardana and Yeremia Erich Yoche Yacob Rambitan of Indonesia and second seeds Aaron Chia and Wooi Yik Soh of Malaysia.

Prannoy failed to rise to the occasion against Danish star Axelsen, going down 15-21 15-21.

Prannoy played the catch up game from the onset. He showed sparks in between riding on his cross court smashes but Axelsen’s drop shots and court coverage was good enough to help him take the lead.

The script unfolded in the same manner in the next game as Axelsen continued to maintain his upperhand and pocket the game and match in identical manner.

It was Prannoy’s sixth loss against the Dane in the international circuit as against two wins.

The men’s doubles began on an even keel before the Korean pair surged ahead to 6-3.

Once they conceded the lead, Satwik and Chirag were forced to play a catch-up game.

The Indians used their aggressive play to reduce the margin to 15-19 and then 17-20 before Kang and Seo kept their composure to pocket the first game, courtesy an unforced error.

The Indians looked more purposeful after the change of ends and took an early 6-3 lead before racing to 11-4 with a flurry of fast-paced shots and body smashes in the second game.

Satwik and Chirag were also helped by some bad line calls and unforced errors from the Koreans.

But Kang and Seo didn’t give up and clawed their way back in the game to reduce the gap to 18-15.

But the Indians managed to hold on to their nerves and played sensibly to pocket the second game and level the scores.

The decider went neck and neck till the first five points before Satwik and Chirag pocketed seven straight points to race to 12-5 lead.

The Koreans tried hard to bounce back and at one time levelled the scores at 16-16 but that is when Satwik and Chirag stepped it up and closed out the game and the match.

The BWF World Tour is divided into six levels, namely World Tour Finals, four Super 1000, six Super 750, seven Super 500, and 11 Super 300 in order. One other category of tournament, the BWF Tour Super 100 level, also offers ranking points.

Each of these tournaments offers different ranking points and prize money. The highest points and prize pool is offered at the Super 1000 level.

With inputs from PTI

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