Satwik-Chirag Exit Malaysia Open; PV Sindhu Advances to Semis

Satwik-Chirag Exit in Quarterfinals

The Indian men's doubles team of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty faced elimination in the quarterfinals of the Malaysia Open on Friday.

They were defeated by Indonesia's Fajar Alfian and Muhammed Fikri with scores of 10-21, 21-23. In the first game, the Indonesian duo quickly established dominance, leading 11-4 at the break and ultimately winning 21-10.

The Indian pair improved in the second game, exchanging leads until the break. Afterward, they managed to pull ahead 17-13, but Fajar and Fikri rallied to tie the score and secured match point at 20-19. Despite saving three match points, a misplayed shot from Chirag and a net clip from Fikri allowed Indonesia to clinch the game 21-23, thus winning the match.

Previously, Satwik and Chirag advanced to the quarterfinals with a solid victory over Malaysia's Junaidi Arif and Roy King Yap, winning 21-18, 21-11 in just 39 minutes. This marks the first time in four years that they have not reached the semifinals of this tournament, where they were runners-up in 2024.

PV Sindhu Moves to Semifinals

PV Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medalist, remains India's last hope in the tournament. She secured her place in the semifinals as the third seed after Japan's Akane Yamaguchi retired due to injury following a 21-11 loss in the first game.

With this victory, Sindhu will now compete against the winner of the match between China's Wang Zhiyi and Indonesia's PK Wardani, scheduled for later on Friday. Ranked 18th, Sindhu had previously defeated eighth seed Tomoka Miyazaki of Japan to reach the quarterfinals of this BWF Super 1000 event.

Lakshya Sen's Journey Concludes

Lakshya Sen, the Commonwealth Games champion and Paris Olympics semifinalist, was eliminated in the pre-quarters. He lost to Hong Kong's world No. 18 Lee Cheuk Yiu in a match that lasted 53 minutes, with scores of 22-20, 21-15.