Satwiksairaj- Chirag into Finals, Prannoy Exits.

The Indian men's doubles pair of Satsiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty advanced to the final, but it was curtains for H. S. Prannoy in men's singles semifinals of the Indonesia Open World Tour Super 1000 badminton tournament here on Saturday. Satwik and Chirag, seeded seventh, defeated unseeded Min Hyuk Kang and Seung Jae Seo of Korea 17-21, 21-19, 21-18 to seal a maiden Super-1000 final berth. 

However, Prannoy failed to rise to the occasion against top seed Viktor Axelsen of Denmark, going down 21-15, 21-15. The men's doubles contest began on an even keel before the Korean pair surged 6-3 ahead. Satwik and Chirag were forced to play the catch-up game once they conceded the lead. The Indians used their aggressive play to reduce the margin to 15-19 and then 17-20 before Kang and Seo kept their composure to pocket the first game, courtesy an unforced error. 

The Indian duo took an early 6-3 lead before racing to 11-4 with a flurry of fast-paced shots and body smashes in the second game. The decider went neck and neck till the first five Points before Satvik and Chirag pocketed seven straight points to race ahead 12-5. The koreans tried hard to bounce back, but Satvik and Chirag stepped it up and closed out the game and the match.