China Masters 2024: Satwik-Chirag See Off Astrup-Rasmussen to Enter Semi-Finals; Lakshya Sen Bows Out

India's top doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty advanced to the semi-finals of the China Masters 2024 badminton tournament on Friday (November 22) Shenzhen Bay Gymnasium in Shenzhen, China.

The sixth-seeded Indian duo saw off second seeds Anders Rasmussen and Kim Astrup of Denmark by straight games 21-16, 21-19 in the men's doubles quarter-final that lasted 47 minutes on court 2.

The Indian duo had a strong start in the first game of the bout. Satwik-Chirag clinched a dominating 21-16 win in the first game. While, in the second game, the Danish opponents tried to make a comeback, however, Satwik-Chirag won the game by 21-19.

With this win, the Indian pair booked a semi-final meeting with South Korea's Jin Yong and Seo Seung Jae, who defeated Japanese pair of Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi in the other quarter-final. The last 4 clash will take place on Saturday (November 23).

Returning to action for the first time since the Paris Olympics disappointment, Satwik-Chirag had earlier seen off 15th-ranked Denmark pair of Rasmus Kjaer and Frederik Sogaard by a scoreline of 21-19, 21-15 in the second round.

While Rankireddy and Shetty kept the Indian challenge alive in the BWF World Tour Super 750 tournament, it was curtains for Lakshya Sen in the men's singles event on Friday (November 22).

Sen was ousted after conceding a straight games 21-18, 21-15 defeat against third seed Anders Antonsen of Denmark in the men's singles quarter-final match that lasted for 53 minutes on Court 2.

Earlier in the tournament saw India's women's singles players PV Sindu, Anupama Upadhyaya, and Malvika Bansod as well as mixed doubles pair of B Sumeeth Reddy-N Sikki Reddy and women's doubles duo of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand make an exit.

Top Indian women's singles shuttler and two-time Olympic medallist Sindhu crashed out in the second round following a hard-fought loss to Singapore's Yeo Jia Min by a scoreline of 16-21, 21-17, 21-23,

Anupama Upadhyaya was defeated by Natsuki Nidaira of Japan 21-7, 21-14 while Malvika Bansod succumbed to a 21-9, 21-9 defeat to eighth-seeded Thai shuttler Supanida Katethong.

B Sumeeth Reddy-N Sikki Reddy handed a walkover to Chinese top seeds Feng Yan Zhe-Huang Dong Ping. Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand went down 21-16, 21-11 to the second-seeded Chinese pair of Liu Sheng Shu and Tan Ning.