Korea Open 2023 Semi-Finals Highlights: Satwik-Chirag win in straight games to reach final

Hello and welcome to the Khel Now's live blog for the Korea Open 2023 semi-finals! Stay tuned for live updates as players fight for place in the finals.

Korea Open 2023 Semi-Finals Schedule

Court 1

XD: Jiang Zhen Bang/Wei Ya Xin vs Yuta Watanabe/Arisa Higashino

WS: Chen Yu Fei vs An Se Young

WD: Kim So Yeong/Kong Hee Yong vs Mayu Matsumoto/Wakana Nagahara

WS: Akane Yamaguchi vs Tazi Tzu Ying

MS: Kodai Naraoka vs Loh Kean Yew

MD: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty vs Liang Wei King/Wang Chang

MS: Shi Yuqi vs Anders Antonsen

MD: Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto vs kang Min Hyuk/SeoSeung Jae

Court 2

XD: Feng Yan Zhe/Huang Dong Ping vs Dechapol Puavaranukroh/Sapisree Taerattanachai

WD: Chen Qing Chen/Jia Yi Fan vs Zhang Shu Xian/Zheng Yu

Satwik-Chirag makes Korea Open 2023 semi-finals

India’s top ranked men’s doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty beat fifth seed Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi in straight games (21-14, 21-17) in Korea Open 2023. With this win, satwik progressed to the semi-finals and are the only Indians left in the tournament.

The WR-3 pair started the match on a bright note winning the opening game 21-14) The Japanese pair had no answers in the opener and were always on the back foot. At 12-6, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy recorded the fastest smash of the tournament – 500 kmph. He was earlier awarded the Guinness World Record for the fastest smash in badminton – 565 kmph under controlled environment in Japan.

Hoki/Kobayashi came back strongly in the following game and held on to a small lead, but the Satwik-Chirag, crowned Asian champions earlier in the year, kept pushing and took a two-point lead in the mid-game interval.

Hoki/Kobayashi came back strongly in the following game and held on to a small lead, but the Satwik-Chirag, crowned Asian champions earlier in the year, kept pushing and took a two-point lead in the mid-game interval.

In the end, Satwik and Chirag scored five out of the last six points to end the match in style. Hoki/Kobayashi committed too many unforced errors which went in the favour of the opposition. After a poor opening game, they made a good comeback which didn’t prove to be enough in the end.

Up next, the Indian pair is slated to take on number two seed from China Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang for a place in the final. The Chinese pair have met Satwik-Chirag twice previously and got better of the Indians on both occasions.