Bangkok, 15 May (H.S.):

India’s star men’s doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty reached the semifinals of the Thailand Open Super 500 badminton tournament on Friday with a strong performance, while two‑time Olympic medalist P.V. Sindhu was knocked out in the quarterfinals.

The top‑seeded Indian pair Satwik‑Chirag defeated Japan’s sixth‑seeded combination of Takumi Nomura and Yūichi Shimogami 21–12, 21–13 in a one‑sided contest that lasted 41 minutes. This marks the first semifinal spot for an Indian pair at any BWF World Tour event in 2026.

It was the first encounter between the two pairs, and the Indians dominated from the outset. In the first game, Satwik‑Chirag raced to a 10–0 lead by taking 10 consecutive points. The Japanese pair tried to stage a comeback, but the Indian duo did not give them enough room to close the gap.

Japan played better in the second game, yet Satwik and Chirag held on to their advantage and comfortably clinched the match. In the semifinals, the Indian pair will face either Malaysia’s third‑seeded combination of Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin, or Scotland’s brothers Christopher and Mathew Grimley.

In women’s singles, P.V. Sindhu’s campaign ended in the quarterfinals. Japan’s top‑seeded and world number‑3 Akane Yamaguchi beat Sindhu 19–21, 21–18, 21–15 to knock her out of the tournament.

The opening game was a close contest, with the score level at 19–19. Sindhu then won two points in a row to clinch the first game.

In the second game Sindhu maintained a four‑point lead until the midpoint break, but a spate of unforced errors allowed Yamaguchi to win seven straight points and stage a comeback.

In the deciding game, the Japanese player kept the lead from the start and secured victory in the 61‑minute contest to reach the semifinals.

Indian fans will now pin their hopes on Lakshya Sen, who is set to take on defending champion and Thai player Kunlavut Vitidsarn in the men’s singles quarterfinals.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar