Priyanshu Rajawat makes it to semis of Orleans Masters 2023, beats Chi Yu-Jen of Chinese Taipei
India's Priyanshu Rajawat looks unstoppable at the moment as he beat Chi Yu-Jen of Chinese Taipei in the quarterfinals of the Orleans Masters, in straight games 21-18, 21-18 on Friday. The 21-year-old was up against the world no. 61 player after he beat the top seed Kenta Nishimoto on Thursday.
Right from the start of the match, the Indian youngster, who was a part of the Thomas Cup-winning team in 2022, showed his dominance. He moved well on the court and looked to play attacking whenever the opportunity presented itself. In the first game, at one point Rajawat had a slender one-point lead at 16-15 but closed it from there on.
Come the second game, Yu-Jen did try to make a comeback against the world no.58 Indian and brought the score to 10-10. Once again, Rajawat took the initiative to play some attacking shots, and that showed in the scoreline as well. From there he was able to close it rather easily at 21-18. With all the top seeds from the tournament gone already, and seeing his form, Rajawat has a realistic chance of winning the tournament too now.
Rajawat will now be up against world no. 33 Nhat Nguyen of Ireland in the semis. Later on Friday, the men's doubles pair of Dhruv Kapila and MR Arjun will be up against the world no.10 Indonesian pair of Carnando and Marthin.