Lakshya, Satwik-Chirag reach final at Hong Kong Open

young new delhi: This has been ace of the driest seasons in recent times in terms of titles won by amerindic shuttlers. Blackball the US Open crown that Ayush Shetty clinched in June, no one has stood on the top step of the podium on the BWF World Tour this year.

But on Sunday Lakshya Sen and the men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will have a chance to make amends as both stormed into the final of the $500,000 Hong Kong Open on Saturday.

Lakshya has had a pretty average season with eight first round exits in 13 competitions, having dropped to world No.20. But the 24-year-old seems to have come alive at the Hong Kong Coliseum. Taken the distance in all three previous rounds, including twice against compatriots HS Prannoy and Ayush Shetty, the shuttler from Almora delivered a brilliant performance to oust third seed Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei in the men’s singles semi-finals.

Sen won a grueling 56-minute battle 23-21, 22-20 to come out on top for the third time in seven meetings against the world No.6. Lakshya faces reigning Asian Games champion Li Shi Feng of China as he bids for his first title since the Syed Modi International in December 2024. To his credit, the Indian has a 7-6 record against the second seeded Chinese.

“It was a very competitive match and credit to Chou, he played really well. We were on our toes at every point, whether it was love-all or 20-all. The intensity was really high. Happy with the way I kept my calm in the closing stages. A few lucky net cords for me, so a lucky day,” said Lakshya.

Satwik and Chirag qualified for their first final since May 2024, when they won the Thailand Open, after the eighth seeds beat Chinese Taipei’s Chen Cheng Kuan and Lin Bing-wei 21-17, 21-15 in just 38 minutes in their first meeting.

“Finals, finally,” exclaimed Chirag. Since clinching their last title in Bangkok, Satwik-Chirag had reached as many as six semi-finals, floundering each time at the last four stage, including at the World Championships in Paris last month.

“We’ve been constantly playing semi-finals and really wanted to play a final. It’s been a while. We really wanted to do well here. Still one more match to go, but overall it’s been good (to reach the final). The World Championships was good, although we would’ve loved to play the final. But the pairs we beat gave us the confidence coming in (here). Really happy that we broke that semi-final jinx.”

For the Super 500 title, the two-time World Championship bronze medalists will face Chinese sixth seeds Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who Satwik and Chirag beat in the last 16 at the World Championships. However, the Chinese world No.7 pairing has a better head-to-head (6-3).

Ashmita loses in semis

It was the end of the road for Ashmita Chaliha, who lost her women’s singles semi-final 19-21, 15-21 in 37 minutes to China’s Cai Yan Yan at the $110,000 Vietnam Open, being held in Ho Chi Minh City. Ashmita’s loss ended India’s challenge at the Super 100 tourney.

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