Prannoy, Satwik - Chirag enter semifinals; Srikanth bows out

Press Trust of India

Jakarta: India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty shocked top seed Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto to sail into the men’s doubles semifinals before HS Prannoy entered the last-four stage of men’s singles competition at the Indonesia Open here on Friday.

Prannoy registered a win over Kodai Naraoka of Japan. However, world championship silver medallist Kidambi Srikanth bowed out of the men’s singles competition after going down fighting to China’s Li Shi Feng in the quarterfinals.

The first Indian to take the court, Srikanth lost 14- 21 21-14 12-21 in one hour and nine minutes against world No. 10 Feng. The win enabled Feng to restore parity as far as his head-to-head record against Srikanth is concer ned, which stands at 1-1 now. The seventh seeded duo of Satwik and Chirag then displayed a flawless game to outwit Indonesia’s Alfian and Adrianto 21-13 21-13 in 41 minutes.

Satwik and Chirag will play the winner of the quarterfinal between Koreans Min Hyuk Kang and Seung Jae Seo and Indonesia’s Leo Rolly Carnando and Daniel Marthin. In the final Indian match of the day, seventh seed Prannoy prevailed over Naraoka, seeded third, 21-18 21-6 to book his semifinal berth. Prannoy will take on the winner of the match between top seed Viktor Axelsen of Denmark and Chinese Taipei’s Tien Chen Chou.

In the battle between Srikanth and Feng, the Chinese came out on top in the first game despite taking more time to get off the blocks. It was world No. 22 Srikanth, who opened up an early 2-0 lead before Feng bounced back with five straight points, with the Indian guilty of committing too many unforced errors.