Indian badminton had plenty to celebrate on Friday as Lakshya Sen and the men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty advanced to the semifinals of the Hong Kong Open Super 500.
In the men’s singles quarterfinal, world No. 20 Lakshya Sen edged out compatriot Ayush Shetty in a tense all-Indian clash. The 24-year-old prevailed 21-16, 17-21, 21-13 in a gruelling one hour, six-minute battle.
Ayush, who had stunned 2023 World Championships silver medallist Kodai Naraoka of Japan a day earlier, pushed Lakshya hard before the senior shuttler’s control and composure proved decisive in the decider.
Meanwhile, India’s star men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty marched into the semifinals of the Hong Kong Open Super 500 with a hard-fought victory over Malaysia’s Arif Junaidi and Roy King Yap.
The world No. 9 duo, riding high after clinching a bronze medal at the recent BWF World Championships, displayed sharp coordination and relentless attacking play to outlast their Malaysian opponents 21-14, 20-22, 21-16 in a 64-minute thriller of the USD 500,000 tournament.
Power play
The eighth seeds started slowly but found their rhythm at 12-all in the opening game. Once in control, they unleashed a flurry of powerful smashes and pocketed the last five points in succession to take the lead.
Junaidi and Yap regrouped well in the second game, staying neck-and-neck with the Indians.
After levelling at 6-all, the Malaysians kept their noses in front for most of the game. Though Satwik and Chirag fought back to tie it at 20-all, the Malaysians held their nerve to force a decider.
In the third game, however, the Indians raised their level significantly, never allowing their opponents to gain the upper hand. Dominating from start to finish, they sealed their place in the last four with a confident finish.
Yesterday, the Indians had also battled past Thailand’s Peeratchai Sukphun and Pakkapon Teeraratsakul in the round of 16 to set up the quarterfinal clash.
This marks their sixth semifinal appearance in BWF tournaments this year, underlining their remarkable consistency in 2025. They had previously made the last four in Malaysia, India, Singapore, China, and at the World Championships in Paris.
