Raksha Sen’s career©X (old Twitter)
India’s top men’s doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankirdi and Chirag Shetty defeated Denmark’s Rasmus Kjær and Frederic Sogaard 21-19, 21-15 on Thursday in the China Masters Badminton Tournament advanced to the quarterfinals. This BWF World Tour saw Rankireddy and Shetty win the match of the day after PV Sindhu, Anupama Upadhyaya, Malvika Bansod and the women’s doubles pair Trisa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand lost in their second round matches respectively. He was the first Indian to enter the Super 750 event.
Playing their first tournament after the Paris Olympics, the Indian duo showed their dominance on court despite trailing 5-2 in the first match, playing against the 15th-ranked pair in the world during the break. They took a narrow lead at 11-9.
The Danish duo put up a tough fight, but the Indians made sure to keep pace in the match as the former showed great skill on the court. In the end, Rankireddy and Shetty won 21-19.
In the next game, Rankireddy-Shetty learned from her previous mistake and got off to a strong start with three consecutive points to take a 6-3 lead. However, although the Danish opponents tried to show their presence in the match, they did not allow the Indian pair enough room to take the lead and won 21-15. The Indian pair, ranked ninth in the world, won their match in 44 minutes and will face Denmark’s Kim Astrup and Anders Skarp Rasmussen in Friday’s quarter-finals.
In the men’s singles match, Raksha Sen defeated Denmark’s Rasmus Gemke 21-16, 21-18 to advance to the quarterfinals of the tournament.
With the win, Sen improved his record against Gemke to 4-1, making him the only Indian player remaining in the singles category. The 23-year-old got off to a great start, giving his opponents an early lead and then solidifying his lead to take the first game 21-16.
In the second game, Gemke tried his level best to match Sen’s energy, but was unable to overpower him in the fight. The Indian shuttler finished the match after deciding the match 21-18 and securing a spot for the hostel.
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