French Open 2024: Satwik-Chirag, Lakshya enter semifinals; PV Sindhu, Treesa-Gayatri exit from quarters

PV Sindhu went down against World No. 2 Chen Yu Fei after a marathon clash in French Open 2024.

World No. 1 pair, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty marched into the semifinals of the French Open 2024 with a clinical win, but two-time Olympic medallist, PV Sindhu’s stay in the tournament came to an end after she went down fighting against reigning Olympic champion Chen Yu Fei of China in the women’s singles quarterfinals.

Commonwealth Games gold medallist, Lakshya Sen, also advanced to the last-four stage with a come-from-behind victory over Singapore’s former world champion Loh Kean Yew. Sen, who suffered a cut to his right-hand finger during the first game, came back from a game down to win 19-21, 21-15, 21-13 in 76 minutes. He will next face defending world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn in his first semi-final appearance since the Japan Open last year.

Meanwhile, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand bowed out of Paris after a straight games loss to World No. 1 pair Chen Qing Chen/Jia Yi Fan in just 36 minutes.

PV Sindhu, who was making her return to the BWF circuit after four months out, produced a terrific fight against the current World No. 2 Chen Yu Fei. Their battle lasted for an hour and 32 minutes before the defending champion stayed on course of retaining her title with a 22-24, 21-17, 21-18 scoreline.

It was Sindhu though who had started well, winning the opening game after initially trailing 6-11 at the mid-game interval. The game was level at 15-15 and then again at 19-19 and 22-22 before Sindhu converted her third game point opportunity to move ahead 1-0.

Trending Indian Sports articles

• Indian Wells Open 2024: India’s Sumit Nagal falls to Milos Raonic in straight sets
• Indian men’s hockey team to begin campaign against New Zealand at Paris Olympics 2024
• Indian table tennis teams secure historic Olympic berths, qualify for Paris Olympics 2024
• Indian Sports Calendar 2024: Major events to look forward to in March
• List of Indian athletes to have secured qualification for Paris Olympics 2024

The Indian started the second game in the same flow but once again found herself behind at 4-7 before pulling level at 7-7. Chen was just two points ahead at the interval but made most of few unforced errors by Sindhu to draw parity.

In the decider, the Chinese opened up a 6-3 lead to start the game, but Sindhu clawed back at 7-7 and once again at 11-11. But from thereon, Chen maintained a 2-3 points gap and although Sindhu pushed whenever she found an opening, the Chinese shuttler was just unstoppable.

Earlier, Satwik-Chirag defeated Thailand’s WR-32 Supak Jomkoh/Kittinupong Kedren in straight games 21-19, 21-13 to setup a semi-final meeting with world champions Kang Min Hyuk/Seo Seung Jae in a repeat of the India Open final clash from earlier this year.

For more updates, follow Khel Now on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram; download the Khel Now Android App or IOS App and join our community on Whatsapp & Telegram