Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty are not only the best men’s doubles pair in the world, in terms of rankings, but also because of the performances they have been churning out against the top pairs in the world. On Saturday, the Indian duo of Satwik/Chirag got the better of World No. 2 South Korean team of Kang Min Hyuk/Seo Seung Jae in the French Open 2024 semi-finals.
The World No. 1 Satwik/Chirag beat the current world champions 21-13, 21-16, to enter their third final of the season, most importantly a final at the Paris 2024 Olympics venue. Meanwhile, the Indian team had reached the Malaysian Open final, where they lost to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang. The duo also lost the India Open final.
Lakshya Sen Loses, But Gains Valuable Points
The World No. 19 men’s singles shuttler Lakshya Sen’s campaign ended in the semis as he lost to 8th ranked Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand. Even though Lakshya put up a solid fight in the first game, he ran out of steam in the next two, and lost 21-19, 13-21, 11-21.
Having said that, Lakshya bounced back to form, to make it to his first semis since Japan Open last year, in July. In fact, he beat the likes of Kanta Tsuneyama, China’s Li Shi Feng, and 2021 World Championships gold medalist Loh Kean Yew, at the French Open. Not only that, he will also get some points for the Paris Olympics qualification.
Editors pick
