Malaysia Open 2023: Satwik-Chirag pair into semifinal; Prannoy challenge ends

Kuala Lumpur, January 13: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty kept the Indian challenge alive in the Malaysia Open 2023 following a fighting win to reach the men's doubles semifinal at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Friday (January 13).

The seventh-seeded Indian pair came from a game down to beat Chinese pair Liu Yu Chen & Ou Xuanyi by 17-21, 22-20, 21-9 in the quarterfinal match that lasted for an hour and six minutes on Court 2.

After going a game down 17-21 in the closely contested opening essay, and getting close to a straight games defeat, the Commonwealth Games champions showed resilience to claim the second game 22-20.

In the third game, the Chinese pair could not show a fight as the Indian pair totally dominated gaining momentum from the second game to win the decided 21-9.

India's top doubles pair Rankireddy and Shetty will next face another Chinese pair in Liang Wei Keng & Wang Chang in the last four match on Saturday (January 14).

Malaysia Open 2023: Indian Shuttlers in Action, Schedule, Results, Telecast and Live Streaming Info

While the doubles pair won, the only other Indian in the quarterfinal round, HS Prannoy suffered a defeat against Japan's Kodai Naraoka in the men's singles last eight match.

The 30-year-old from Kerala ran out of steam in the 84-minute contest, losing 16-21 21-19 10-21 to the 21-year-old Naraoka, who seemed faster and fitter, despite playing two long matches in the earlier rounds.

This was Naraoka's third win over the Indian in as many meetings. He had defeated Prannoy in two games at the Singapore Open and World Tour Finals last year.

After going down 21-16 in the first game, Prannoy fought back to take the match into the decider via a 21-19 win in the second game. In the third game, the Indian's stamina was put test and the Japanese won 21-10 to clinch the tie.

Earlier in the tournament, India's top singles players PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, Srikanth Kidambi and Lakshya Sen all suffered first round exits, while women's doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayathri Gopichand bowed out in the second round.