New Delhi: Star Indian badminton pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty entered the semifinals of the Malaysia Open 2025 on Friday. The shuttlers defeated the home favourite combination of Yew Sin Ong and Ee Yi Teo in straight games 26-24, 21-15 of the quarterfinal game played at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The currently ranked World No.9 pair wrapped the contest in 49 minutes and remain just one win away from making a back-to-back finals at the Super 1000 badminton tournament, which is organised by the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
🚨 Semi-Final Bound! 🚨#SatwikChirag storm into #MalaysiaOpen2025
semis! 🏸🔥
“Great start to the year, we couldn’t have started on a better note. We want to go as deep in the tournament as possible.” – Satwik/Chirag💪#SatChi #MalaysiaOpen #Badminton #BWFWorldTour pic.twitter.com/BzBm66iUS0
— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) January 10, 2025
Next Challenge: South Korean Pair Awaits
The opening game was an enthralling one with both pairs challenging each other to get an edge. Ong and Teo had an opportunity of taking an early lead when they had two game points in hand, but the Indians stamped their authority bringing their experience to the fore to level the scores at 22-22.
The seventh-seeded Indians, who are the only seeded pair left in the men’s doubles in this event, plunged after saving four straight game points to dish out the Malaysian pair’s hopes for an early lead. The Indians took the game at 26-24.
The Malaysians were unfazed by the result entering the second game and indicated a strong message to the Indians, they will fightback here. Ong and Teo took a healthy lead of 4-1 and maintained it to the halfway mark at 11-8. It was only after the interval that the former World No.1 Indian pair came out with guns blazing, picking up four straight points to take the lead for the first time in this game.
The Indians never provided the room for their Malaysian counterparts to regain the lead after extending to 19-14 before prevailing at 21-15. This was their second win over a Malaysian pair in their own den after outplaying N Azriyn and Tan WK 21-15 21-15 in the round of 16.
Satwik and Chirag will next face the South Korean pair of Kim Won Ho and Seo Seung Jae in the semifinal on Saturday.
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