Sen, Mannepalli Reach Macau Open Semis as Satwik-Chirag Suffer Shock Exit
India鈥檚 campaign at the Macau Open Super 300 brought contrasting results on Friday, as singles stars Lakshya Sen and Tharun Mannepalli stormed into the semifinals, while top men鈥檚 doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty bowed out in the pre-quarterfinals after a narrow defeat.
Breakthrough run for Tharun Mannepalli
World No. 47 Tharun Mannepalli continued his dream run in Macau, edging past China鈥檚 junior world champion Hu Zhe鈥檃n in a tense three-game battle. The 23-year-old Indian won 21-12, 13-21, 21-18 to make his maiden semifinal appearance at a BWF Super 300 event.
Earlier in the tournament, Tharun had stunned top seed Lee Cheuk Yiu of Hong Kong. The young shuttler, who trains at the Pullela Gopichand Academy, will now face Malaysia鈥檚 Justin Hoh in the semifinal鈥攁 player he defeated at the Thailand Open earlier this year.
Sen survives scare against China鈥檚 Zhu
India鈥檚 top-ranked shuttler Lakshya Sen had to dig deep to get past world No. 77 Xuan Chen Zhu of China. The Commonwealth Games gold medallist clinched a 21-14, 18-21, 21-14 victory in a match lasting just over an hour. Sen started strong but was pushed hard in the second game before regaining control in the decider.
This is Lakshya鈥檚 best performance in a BWF World Tour event this season. He will next face fifth seed Alwi Farhan of Indonesia for a place in the final.
Early blow for Satwik-Chirag
Meanwhile, India鈥檚 top doubles team Satwik and Chirag couldn鈥檛 advance past the pre-quarterfinal stage. The world No. 9 pair went down 21-14, 13-21, 20-22 to Malaysia鈥檚 Choong Hon Jian and Muhammad Haikal. Despite leading 17-12 in the final game, the Indians let the match slip, suffering their first loss to the Malaysian pair.
