China Masters 2023: Satwik-Chirag sail through to semifinals, HS Prannoy exits

Satwik-Chirag have a chance to reach the top of BWF Rankings.

India’s top ranked men’s doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty defeated Indonesia’s Leo Carnando and Daniel Marthin in straight games (21-16, 21-14) at China Masters 2023. The former world no.1 with this victory progressed through to the semifinals and have increased their h2h record to (4-0). The Indian pair defeated the Indonesian pairing previously at the BWF World Championships.

Meanwhile, HS Prannoy lost to third seed Kodai Naraoka (9-21, 14-21) in over 40 minutes. This brings an end to Prannoy’s journey this season at the BWF World Tour. He had a remarkable season overall winning his maiden BWF World Tour event at Malaysia Masters to clinching bronze at World Championships, followed by a bronze in the recently concluded Hangzhou Asian Games.

Satwik-Chirag started today’s proceedings for India with a comfortable win. The opening game had few nervy moments with the scoreline evenly poised post the mid-game break. From (14-14), the Indian’s jumped forward to score three successive points and took a sizeable lead. This was enough for the top seeds to capture the opener (21-16).

Unlike the opening game, the second game went in Satwik-Chirag’s favour from the start. They took a giant five-point lead (11-6) at the interval and from here they never looked back ensuring a comfortable win with the match lasting for over 45 minutes. Up next, the WR-5 pair is scheduled to meet China’s He Ji Ting and Ren Xiang Yu for a place in the final.

India’s performance on Day 4 of China Masters 2023

Men’s Singles Quarterfinals

• HS Prannoy lost to Kodai Naraoka (9-21, 14-21)

Men’s Doubles Quarterfinals

• Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty beat Leo Carnando/Daniel Marthin (21-16, 21-14)

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