The Indian teen men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty continue their brilliant run at the $20,000 Yonex Sunrise Vietnam International Challenge in Hanoi, Vietnam as they booked their berth in the semi-finals of this tournament on Friday. The sixth seeds needed just 30 minutes to dismiss the unseeded Indonesian duo of Irfan Fadhilah and Rian Swastedian, 21-18, 21-11 in their quarter-final match.
The World No. 59 duo of Rankireddy and Shetty have a tough task up next. They face the second-seeded Indonesians Hendra Aprida Gunawan and Markis Kido for a place in the summit clash. Both of them have a wealth of experience in the doubles circuit and will undoubtedly pose a challenge. While Kido has been a former World No. 1 in men’s doubles, Gunawan has been as high as No. 5 in the same discipline.
Irrespective of the result, this outing will provide the fast-rising pair of Rankireddy and Shetty a lot to learn from. The two had a breakthrough season last year and won four titles. The success catapulted them to the top 70 of the world and they very much hope to build on that this year.
They are the last Indians standing at this tournament.
Subhankar Dey sizzles at the Polish Open
Meanwhile, at the $20,000 Polish Open, the steadily-rising Subhankar Dey notched up two wins on Friday to enter the quarter-finals. In the first round, he got the better of the seventh-seed Anatoliy Yartsev, 21-19, 21-19 in a tight two-game match which lasted 29 minutes.
In the second round, Dey had to show his resilience to come back from a game deficit. The 23-year-old lost the first game 17-21 to the 256th ranked Chinese Taipei shuttler, Yu-Jen Chi. But the Indian made a strong comeback from there to win the next couple of games comfortably for a 17-21, 21-12, 21-12 victory in a 55-minute battle.
He next meets the fourth seed and World No. 62 Ygor Coelho of Brazil for a place in the semi-finals.
Subhankar Dey has been in great form this year and has won two titles at the Iceland International and the Portuguese International. The success has catapulted him to World No. 79 in the rankings that is just eight places away from his career-best position of 71st that he achieved in 2014.
The third-seeded Indian women’s doubles pair of Sanjana Santosh and Arathi Sara Sunil will start their campaign later in the day against the Scottish combine of Julie Macpherson and Eleanor O’Donnell.
