Thailand Open 2024: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty storm through to the finals, Ashwini-Tanisha bow out
The Thailand Open 2024, taking place in Bangkok, saw some incredibly close semifinals take place on its penultimate day. However, it was a mixed day for the Indian shuttlers in action at the Super 500 event.
While the top-seeded pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty comfortably won their semifinal encounter, India’s women’s doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto went down fighting in their semifinal match against Thailand’s Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai.
A closer look at the matches: (Indians only)
In the men’s doubles semifinal, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty took on Chinese Taipei's Lu Ming-Che and Tang Kai-Wei. The Indian pair produced yet another outstanding performance to beat their opponents and book their place in the final.
Shetty and Rankireddy won the match with a 21-11, 21-12 scoreline and took a mere 35 minutes to get the better of their opponents. The Indian duo has yet to drop a set in the tournament and will take on China’s Chen Bo Yang and Liu Yi in the finals.
Meanwhile, India’s women’s doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto lost to the top seeds and home favorites, Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai. Ponnappa and Crasto started the match playing an incredibly defensive style of play. However, unable to counter the Thai pair’s strong attack, the Indian duo were quickly trailing.
After losing the first set 12-21, they changed strategies in the second game, playing a lot more attacking shots and almost leveled terms to take things to the decider. But, Kititharakul and Prajongjai kept their cool and won the second set 22-20 to seal the match and end the Indian duo's campaign at the tournament.
Thailand Open 2024: Results at the end of day five (Indians only)
Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa (India) lost to Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai (Thailand) 12-21, 20-22
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty (India) beat Lu Ming-Che and Tang Kai-Wei (Chinese Taipei) 21-11, 21-12