The unseeded Indian pair toiled hard for one hour and 15 minutes to beat their world no. 6 Malaysian opponents 18-21, 24-22, 22-20 in a nail-biting quarterfinal duel.
India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponappa. Image Courtesy: SAI Media
Bangkok: India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponappa stunned fifth seeds Peng Soon Chan and Liu Ying Goh of Malaysia in a hard-fought three-game contest to enter the mixed doubles semifinals of the Toyota Thailand Open badminton tournament on Friday.
The unseeded Indian pair toiled hard for one hour and 15 minutes to beat their world no. 6 Malaysian opponents 18-21, 24-22, 22-20 in a nail-biting quarterfinal duel.
Rankireddy and Ponappa, world no 22, will be up against the winners of the last quarterfinal match between top seeds Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai of Thailand and Korean duo of Sung Hyun Ko and Hye Won Eom.
Sixth seed Indian PV Sindhu will take on Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon, seeded fourth, in the women’s singles quarterfinals, while Sameer Verma will play third seed Anders Antonsen of Denmark in the men’s singles last-eight round later in the day.
Rankireddy will then team up with Chirag Shetty to face Malaysia’s Yew Sin Ong and Ee Yi Teo in the men’s doubles quarter-finals.
Spain’s Marin breezes into semi-finals
Spanish fifth seed and former world number one Carolina Marin sailed through to the semi-finals of the Thailand Open on Friday, beating Turkey’s Neslihan Yigit 21-6, 21-15.
The 27-year-old Spaniard, ranked sixth in the world, is aiming for back-to-back titles in this week’s tournament—the second of three consecutive events in Bangkok that culminate in next week’s World Tour Finals.
She came out on top last week against top-seeded Tai Tzu-ying, and continued her winning streak Friday—despite Yigit holding a brief lead in the second set.
“I wanted to keep going, keep fighting and keep the focus on what I needed to do, even when Yigit was leading,” said Marin.
She added that she was impressed with the 32nd-ranked Yigit— the sole Turkish player to make the quarter-finals at a Super 100 tournament.
“I hope that more European players will be playing badminton at this level,” Marin said.
Marin will be facing off in the semi-finals against South Korean An Se-young, a formidable teenager who was awarded “Most Promising Player” in 2019.
They already duelled in last week’s tournament, with the more experienced Marin winning in a quick 21-18, 21-16 match.
The 18-year-old, ranked ninth in the world, said she would need to up her mental game in preparation for their showing on Saturday.
“If I want to win against Marin, I need to focus more than last time and have more confidence,” An said, after she disposed of Thai player Pornpawee Chochuwong in a 21-15, 21-18 match full of smashes and attacks.
The athletes have been facing off under tight biosecurity because of the coronavirus pandemic, and without spectators, although the tournaments have been blighted by four positive coronavirus cases.
With inputs from agencies
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