Indonesia Open: Satwik-Chirag in QFs

India’s top men’s doubles pair, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, battled their way into the quarterfinals of the Indonesia Open Super 1000 with a gritty comeback win on Thursday while PV Sindhu bowed out in the second round after a hard-fought three-game encounter.
The 2023 champions in Jakarta, Satwik and Chirag showed nerves of steel in a 68-minute rollercoaster against Denmark’s Rasmus Kjaer and Frederik Sogaard. The world No. 22 Indian duo, coming off a semifinal run at the Singapore Open, edged the world No. 16 pair 16-21, 21-18, 22-20 in a contest that swung wildly before the Indians sealed it with a brilliant finish.
They will next face Malaysian seventh seeds Man Wei Chong and Kai Wun Tee for a place in the semifinals.
Earlier in the day, PV Sindhu’s campaign came to an end after a narrow 22-20, 10-21, 18-21 loss to Thailand’s world No. 8 Pornpawee Chochuwong in a gruelling 78-minute match.
Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medallist, staged a strong comeback to take the opening game after being 10-16 down. But Chochuwong bounced back with a dominant second game and despite Sindhu leading 15-11 in the decider, the Thai shuttler’s consistency and Sindhu’s untimely unforced errors saw the Indian falter at the finish line.