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French Open 2019: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty stun World No. 8 pair, secure second consecutive semis berth in Paris

French Open 2019: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty stun World No. 8 pair, secure second consecutive semis berth in Paris
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By

The Bridge Desk

Published: 25 Oct 2019 4:51 PM GMT

Indian men’s doubles player Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty stunned World No. 8 pair Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen 21-13, 22-20 in the quarter-finals of the ongoing French Open BWF Super 750 tournament in Paris. 

Satwik and Chirag were invincible in the first game as they took an early lead and went on to wrap it up quickly. The second game, however, saw the Danish pair give a little more fight. But in the end, the Indians had the last laugh.

With the win, they have now set up a semifinal clash against the winners between Chinese pair Li Jun Hui & Liu Yu Chen and Japanese pair Hiroyuki Endo and Yuta Watanabe. The Thailand Open winners will play for a spot in the finals on Saturday.

Earlier, in the quarters, the young Indian duo overpowered reigning world champions Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia 21-18, 18-21, 21-13.

Satwik and Chirag had been in a good run of form at the start of the year, in which they had won the Thailand Open title. In fact, this will be their fourth semifinal appearance of the year after Brazil Challenger, Denmark Challenger and Thailand Open. However, a shoulder injury to Satwik meant that they were forced to withdraw from the World Championships in August. 

It seems that the world No.11 pair are now back and how! Last year, Satwik and Chirag had crashed out of the semis after losing to World No. 1 Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo. Should they go on to win the title, it will be a massive boost for their Race to Guangzhou (BWF World Tour finals) rankings.

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