China Open | Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty suffer defeat in semifinals

China Open | Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty suffer defeat in semifinals

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The Indian men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty lost to Marcus Gideon and Kevin Sukamuljo of Indonesia in the semifinal of the ongoing USD 700,000 China Open in Fuzhou on Saturday. This was the eighth successive loss for Satwik and Chirag against the Indonesian pair.

The Indian men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty's strong run of form came to an end after they tasted defeat against three-time defending champions Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo of Indonesia in the semifinal of the ongoing USD 700,000 China Open in Fuzhou on Saturday. 

The world number 9 Indian duo lost 16-21, 20-22 to the world number one doubles pair Gideon and Sukamuljo to bow out of the BWF World Tour Super 750 tournament. This was the eighth successive loss and third of the year for Rankireddy and Shetty against the Indonesian pair. The duo played their hearts out during the 40-minute contest but it was not enough in the end.  

The Indian duo went into a 7-4 lead early on but they lacked the angles in their attack as their opponents managed to go into the break with an 11-9 lead after Rankireddy faltered with his return. The Indonesian pair dominated the fast-paced rallies while the Indians did their best to stay within an arm's distance at 15-17. Errors from the Indian duo gave their opponents five-game points and ultimately the game.

In the second game, Rankireddy and Shetty again had a 3-1 advantage before Marcus and Kevin made their way back into the game and went neck-and-neck till 6-6. The score reached a tie again at 10-10 and again at 12-12 after the break. The Indian team managed to stay ahead at 16-14 and 18-16 before the Indonesians grabbed the lead back with three quick points. After some intensely fought rallies, it was an error again from Rankireddy that gave their opponents the match point at 20-19. The Indians saved one before handing another match point to the Indonesian pair, who sealed it this time to enter their fourth successive China Open final. 

Despite the loss, the Indians will be happy with their impressive run at the tournament, notching up some stunning wins against sixth-seeded Japanese pair of Hiroyuki Endo and Yuta Watanabe in the second round and overcoming third-seeded Chinese pairing of Li Jun Hui and Liu Yu Chen in the quarterfinals.

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