Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty reached the quarter-finals of the BWF World Championships 2023 in Copenhagen, Denmark after a sensational come-from-behind victory in their Round of 16 clash against Indonesia’s Leo Rolly Carnando and Daniel Marthin, the 10th seeds. The top-ranked Indian duo are now just a win away from adding to their bronze from the world meet last year.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty overcame a second-game loss to take the match in the decider and book a spot in the quarter-final. The World No. 2 pair will are set to face the winner of another Round of 16 match between 7th seeds Ong Yew Sin/Teo Ee Yi and 11th seeds Kim Astrup and Anders Rasmussen.
On the other hand, there was disappointment in women’s doubles as the highly-rated Indian pair of Gayatri Gopichand and Jolly Treesa lost in the Round of 32. They went down 14-21, 9-21 in 42 minutes against 3-time champions and top seeds Chen Qing Chen and Jia Yi Fan of China.
Satwik and Chirag showed great anticipation and execution to dish out an attacking game. Chirag was simply superb with his interceptions as he glided through the court and punished any weak returns from their rivals.
The Indian pairs had a slow start but Chirag and Satwik soon stepped up, bringing more discipline in their approach. The Indians rained down their cross court returns with Chirag patrolling the front court. Soon Satwik unleashed his explosive smash to grab a three-point lead at the breather.
Satwik and Chirag, who have already won 4 titles on the tour this season including the Super1000 crown at Indonesia Open, will be hoping to add another world medal before they head to the Asian Games.
In singles, only HS Prannoy and Lakshya Sen remain in contention as former champion PV Sindhu was ousted in the second round along with Kidambi Srikanth, in men’s singles.
