Basel: Star Indian doubles badminton pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty are now two wins away from securing another title. The duo have sealed a place for themselves in the semi-final of the Swiss Open Super Series 300 competition in a superb come-from-behind victory. While they lost the first game 15-21, they did not give an inch to their Danish opponents Jeppe Bay and Lasse Molhede in the next two games and went on to win both of them 21-11, 21-14 to script a win in a contest lasting 84 miniutes.
They will now lock horns against the Malaysian pair of Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi later on Saturday for a place in the final.
Satwik-Chirag are the only Indian contenders left in a tournament where the likes of PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen suffered early defeats.
Even in the first game which the Indian duo lost, at one point they had managed to make a comeback of sorts and were trailing by just one point with the scoreboard reading 15-16. However, on that occasion their opponent had found a way to outclass them, taking the first game 21-15
The Indian pair picked up the tempo in the second game as they quickly got a seven-point cushion of 11-4 at the halfway break. They extended the lead to 10 points by the time parity was restored.
The third game started on an even keel but the Indians were fantastic at the net as they first got an 11-7 lead and then maintained a seven-point advantage till the end of the match to enter the last-four in style.
A tournament win will be a good comeback for the pair after a disappointing early round exit at the All England Championships.
As far as their semifinal fixture is concerned, it promises to be an exciting batter. The Indian duo trail 2-3 on the overall head-to head recrd against the Malaysians are concerned.
(With Inputs From News Agency PTI)