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Satwik-Chirag storm into semis of Malaysia Open 2024 as Ashwini-Tanisha crashes out

Satwik-Chirag have stormed into the semifinals of the Malaysia Open 2024 with straight-set wins over Ren Xiang Yu and He Ji Ting.

By Soumya | Jan 12, 2024 | 2 Min Read

The golden duo of Satwik-Chirag have continued their winning mojo from last year as they storm into the semifinals with straight-set wins over Ren Xiang Yu and He Ji Ting in the ongoing Malaysia Open 2024 Super 1000. The star Indian duo dished out a dominant on-court performance to win the match 21-11 21-8.

Unfortunately, the women’s pairing of Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto suffered a 15-21, 13-21 defeat against Japan’s Rin Iwanaga and Kie Nakanishi of Japan. Earlier, the world no. 24 Indians had created positive optimism in the minds of Indian badminton fans after stunning former world no. 1 and twice world champions Mayu Matsumoto and Wakana Nagahara on Thursday.

But on this occasion, the duo did not have any answer to the attacking barrage of Rin and Kie. Eventually, the match ended within a short span of 39 minutes. Interestingly, this is the second time the duo has lost against Rin and Kie, having suffered a narrow loss in the finals of the Syed Modi International back in December.

The SatChi magic on the court

Satwik and Chirag, who had a sensational season in 2023 with six titles, produced a near-perfect game as they were lightening in their exchanges in the quarterfinals of the Malaysia Open 2024. They inserted pace in the rallies and also mixed things well to make it a one-sided affair. Satwik-Chirag opened up a huge gap of 7-0 in the first set itself which left the Chinese with no other option other than catching up.

Subsequently, the Indian pair went into the mid-game break with an 11-2 lead and finished up the game swiftly (21-11). In the second game even with a change of sides, there was no change in the momentum as both Satwik-Chirag wrapped up the game before the Chinese could reach double digits.

The Satwik-Chirag pairing has carved out a strong place in the men’s doubles category which was displayed in the exemplary way they played today. Incidentally, Satwik-Chirag had dominated Ren and Ting in the China Masters 2023 as well to finish the game in straight sets on that occasion.