India’s mixed fortunes continue at Macau Open

Macau

India faced a roller-coaster day at the Macau Open Super 300 badminton tournament on Friday, as top men’s doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty suffered a shock quarterfinal exit, while singles stars Lakshya Sen and Tharun Mannepalli powered into the semifinals.

World No. 3 duo Satwik and Chirag, widely tipped as medal contenders, were stunned by unseeded Malaysians Choong Hon Jian and Haikal Muhammad, losing 14-21, 17-21 in straight games. The Indians struggled to find their rhythm, falling behind early in both games and failing to mount a comeback.

In contrast, Lakshya Sen, seeded second and the 2022 Commonwealth Games gold medallist, showed tremendous grit to edge past China’s Xuan Chen Zhu 18-21, 21-14, 21-17 in a one-hour thriller. After dropping the opening game, the World No. 13 responded with sharp smashes and composed net play, surging to a 7-1 lead in the decider and closing out the match despite a late fightback from the Chinese player. He will now face Indonesia’s fifth seed Alwi Farhan for a spot in the final.

Joining him in the last four is 23-year-old Tharun Mannepalli, who continued his dream run with a hard-fought 21-12, 13-21, 21-18 victory over China’s Hu Zhe in 75 minutes. The World No. 47 dominated the first game, faltered in the second, and held his nerve in a tense decider to seal his maiden BWF Super 300 semifinal berth.

Earlier in the tournament, Tharun had created headlines by stunning top seed Lee Cheuk Yiu of Hong Kong in the round of 16, announcing himself as a rising force in Indian badminton.