Thailand Open: Satwik’s dream run ends in semis

The Indian men’s and mixed doubles pair make exit in Thailand Open

Bangkok: Indian mixed doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa made their exit from the Toyota Thailand Open Super 1000 after losing in the semifinal on Saturday.
Thailand’s Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai cruised to the final after beating Rankireddy and Ponnappa 22-20, 18-21, 21-12 in the encounter that lasted about an hour.

After losing the hard-fought first game, the Indian pair came out all guns blazing to claim the second game despite the strong challenge from the opponents.

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In the final game of the encounter, the Indian duo failed to outclass the local pair. The Thai pair went to the mid-game break with a two-point advantage and continued their dominance in the rest of the match and won the game 21-12.

Earlier, Tokyo Olympics medal contenders Satwiksairaj and Chirag Shetty’s impressive run ended with a close semifinal defeat in the men’s doubles.

The world number 10 Indian pair, which won its maiden Super 500 title in Thailand and entered the finals of French Open Super 750 event in 2019, lost 18-21 18-21 to world number nine Malayasian combination of Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik in a 35-minute match.

The Indian pair had participated in Super 1000 events in 2018 and 2019 but this is the first time they entered the semifinals.

Satwik and Chirag couldn’t bring their best to the fore as the Malaysian were more alert on court and also managed to diffuse any attack from the Indian pair to emerge victories. The Indian pair had a 4-2 lead early on but the Malaysians managed to claw back and eke out a slender 11-10 lead at the break.

Satwik and Chirag stayed close till 15-16 when their rivals reeled off four points on the trot to eventually close out the opening game. In the second game, the Indian duo was up 3-1 but again the Malaysians produced four straight points to move to 7-3. A precise serve and then their rivals finding the net helped Satwik and Chirag to narrow the gap before drawing parity at 8-8.

However, two smashes at the backcourt gave Aaron and Soh a three-point advantage at the interval. India couldn’t breach the gap and with Chirag hitting long, the Malaysian grabbed six match points. The Indian pair managed to save four match points before Chirag once again found the net as the Malaysians began celebrating.