Singapore Open: PV Sindhu, Lakshya Sen exit in quarters; Satwik-Chirag storm into semi-finals

NEW DELHI: India endured mixed fortunes at the Singapore Open Super 750 on Friday as PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen bowed out in the quarterfinals while the men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty battled into the semifinals with a gritty comeback victory.Two-time Olympic medalist Sindhu once again found reigning Olympic champion and world number one An Se Young too tough to overcome as she went down 17-21, 14-21 in a 48-minute women’s singles quarter-final clash.The defeat extended Sindhu’s winless streak against the Korean star to nine matches, underscoring Ano’s dominance in one of badminton’s most one-sided modern rivalries.Sindhu shows fight but An Se Young stays in controlSindhu started aggressively and tried to attack An with powerful smashes and quick hits at the net. However, the Korean’s coverage and high court consistency again proved decisive.At 7-11 down in the opening game, Sindhu fought back impressively to narrow the gap to 13-14 with a series of attacking strokes. She even finished at 17-19 after winning the longest exchange of the match, but a few mistakes early allowed An to close out the game.The second game started badly for Sindhu as An raced to a 6-0 lead. Although the Indian recovered briefly to stay within touching distance of 12:14 after a grueling 30-shot rally, her momentum waned as unforced errors crept in.Relentless accuracy and exceptional serving skills eventually wore Sindhu down before the Korean comfortably sealed victory to book her place in the semi-finals.The challenge against An was always going to be steep for Sindhu considering the world number one has lost just one match this year and continues to dominate the women’s circuit.In the men’s singles, Lakshya Sen was also eliminated after a hard-fought 19-21, 21-15, 15-21 loss to Japan’s Koki Watanabe in a 78-minute match.Satwik-Chirag keeps India’s hopes aliveIndia’s biggest positive of the day came from Satwik and Chirag, who showed tremendous resilience to defeat Malaysia’s Khai Xing Kang and Aaron Tai 19-21, 21-17, 21-13 in a thrilling men’s doubles quarter-final.The fourth seeded Indian pair recovered significantly after losing the opening game and gradually took control with their aggressive net play and powerful smashes. The competition lasted one hour and five minutes.The Asian Games champions will now face top seeds and reigning world champions Kim Won Ho and Seo Seung Jae of Korea in the semi-finals.India also celebrated success in the mixed doubles as Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto advanced to the semi-finals after third seeded Malaysian pair Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei bowed out during the opening match.The Indian duo will face Japan’s Yuichi Shimogami and Sayaka Hobara for a place in the final.