India’s top men’s doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have secured their spot in the semifinals of the Denmark Open Super 750 badminton tournament.The World Championships bronze medalists defeated Indonesian pair Muhammad Rian Ardianto and Rahmat Hidayat in three games, 21-15, 18-21, 21-16, in a challenging 65-minute quarterfinal match.Satwik and Chirag will face the winner of the match between China’s Chen Bo Yang and Yi Liu or Japan’s Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi in the semifinal round.The Indian duo’s journey to the semifinals included victories over Scotland’s Christopher Grimley and Matthew Grimley, followed by a win against Chinese Taipei’s Lee Jhe-Huei and Yang Po-Hsuan.In men’s singles, India’s Lakshya Sen faced disappointment as he lost to seventh-seeded French player Alex Lanier in straight games, 9-21, 14-21, in a 44-minute encounter.Sen, who had previously defeated world number two Anders Antonsen of Denmark, struggled in the opening game as Lanier dominated with an 8–2 lead, scoring five consecutive points.The Indian player made several unforced errors at the net during the first game.In the second game, despite taking an early 3-1 lead, Sen lost momentum as Lanier claimed nine straight points to establish a 10-4 advantage before securing the match victory.
