French Open 2024: Satwik-Chirag, Lakshya enter semis; Sindhu loses to Olympic champion Chen Yu Fei

World No. 1 Indian pair Satwik-Chirag, who had won the title in 2022, cruised into the semifinals with a 21-19, 21-13 victory over Thailand’s world No. 32 Supak Jomkoh and Kittinupong Kedren.

India’s Chirag Shetty (right) and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (left) in action during their men’s doubles quarterfinal against Thailand’s Supak Jomkoh and Kittinupong Kedren at Adidas Arena Friday in Paris, France. | Photo Credit: GETTY IMAGES

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty stayed on course for the men’s doubles title after reaching the semifinals with a straight-game win, but PV Sindhu fell short in the women’s singles quarterfinals at the French Open Super 750 badminton tournament here on Friday.

The world No. 1 Indian pair, who had won the title in 2022, cruised into the semifinals with a 21-19, 21-13 victory over Thailand’s world No. 32 Supak Jomkoh and Kittinupong Kedren at the Arena Porte de la Chapelle.

The Asian Games champion, who had defeated Malaysian pair of Man Wei Chong and Kai Woo Tee on Thursday night, will next meet world champion and third seeds Kang Min Hyuk and Seo Seung Jae, who had beaten the Indian duo at the India Open final in January this year.

Commonwealth Games gold medallist Lakshya Sen also progressed to the last-four stage with a come-from-behind 19-21, 21-15, 21-13 victory over former world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore. Lakshya next takes on reigning world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand for a place in the final.

Earlier, Sindhu, who is on a comeback trail from a four-month-long injury layoff, produced a gallant fight, giving ample display of her strokeplay and physical fitness during a marathon one hour and 32-minute battle against Olympic champion Chen Yu Fei of China.

The two-time Olympic medallist, however, had to settle for a 24-22 17-21 18-21 loss to the second seed and defending champion Chen in the riveting last eight battle here.

The last time Sindhu had beaten the world no. 2, Chen was en route to her 2019 World Championships gold. Since then, the Indian has lost to the Chinese twice in the last two meetings, although she held a better 6-5 head-to-head record against her opponent coming into the crucial tie.

Playing a top-class opponent after quite some time, Sindhu didn’t show any sign of the left knee injury that had pushed her out of the circuit since October last year.

There was nothing to separate the two as Sindhu produced an attacking display and moved well on the court. But a steady Chen Yu Fei managed to keep her nose ahead till the end.

Sindhu and Chen played some excruciating rallies with the Chinese, using high tosses and lifts to keep the Indian at the back. But Sindhu tried to step up the pace. The result was both moved together till 6-6.

But Sindhu then dumped one at the net and sent another wide while Chen unleashed a cross-court return to move ahead. The Chinese had five points at the break when Sindhu made a misjudgement at the backline.

An unperturbed Sindhu, however, slowly clawed back at 15-15 to take the lead with a five-point run.

While the Chinese kept targeting Sindhu’s body, the Indian gathered points with delectable drops, cross court winners, and precise returns at her opponent’s forehand corner.

From 19-19, the two moved neck-and-neck till 22-22 before Sindhu converted a third game point opportunity by unleashing a superb forehand cross court drop.

Sindhu made a confident 4-2 lead after the change of sides, with Chen sending the shuttle long twice.

However, the Chinese turned the tables as Sindhu went wide twice, and Chen produced a backhand drop and a cross court smash to lead 7-4.

The Indian drew parity again at 7-7, but Chen pulled away to 11-9 with a disguised return after Sindhu sprayed into nets twice. Sindhu kept the pressure on her opponent and restored parity at 13-13 with another delightful drop.

However, rare service errors by Sindhu gave Chen an opportunity, and she unleashed a straight smash and a body blow to move ahead. With Sindhu making too many unforced errors, Chen pulled away and roared back in the contest after the Indian sprayed another one to the net.

While the clock crossed the hour’s mark, the duo kept fighting.

In the decider, Chen produced two sublime shots -- a drop and a late cross net -- to open up a 6-3 lead, but a barrage of smashes helped Sindhu claw back at 7-7.

The duo continued to test each other’s mental resolve during the tight rallies and was inseparable till 11-11. Chen then grabbed five straight points, but Sindhu broke the run of points with another lovely drop at 13-16.

But Chen was soon up 19-15 with a smash. Sindhu again brought the equation down to two points at 17-19 but missed a backhand net drop to hand over three match points to Chen, who sealed it when another body return was sent wide by Sindhu.