French Open: Satwiksairaj-Chirag reach third final of 2024, Lakshya Sen crashes out in semis

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty made it to their third consecutive final of the year by defeating Kang Minhyuk and Seo Seungjae of South Korea in the semi-final. The Indian duo beat their opponents in two straight sets 21-13, 21-16.

Paris [France]: Top seeds and former champions Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty reached the third consecutive final of 2024 during the ongoing French Open on Saturday after a dominating win over reigning world champions Kang Minhyuk and Seo Seungjae of South Korea in the semifinals.

Rankireddy and Chirag beat the current world champions 21-13, 21-16 within two straight games to reach their third French Open final. The 2022 French Open champions faced a great challenge from the South Koreans in the first game, with scores once level at 5-5. From then on, Satwiksairaj and Chirag won six points on the trot and never looked back from there. After a convincing win in the first game, Satwiksairaj and Chirag soon gained an upper hand in the second game as well. Though Kang and Seo tried to fight back, the early lead by the Indians helped them win the match in 40 minutes.

India's top duo will face the winner between Japan's Takuro Hoki/Yugo Kobayashi and Chinese Taipei's Lee Jhe-Huei/Yang Po-Hsuan in the finals on Sunday. Coming to the semifinals of the men's singles competition, Lakshya Sen, the world number 19 shuttler, crashed out after a defeat to eighth-ranked Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand by 21-19, 13-21, 11-21.

Sen, who is also the Commonwealth Games champion, dominated the first game initially, leading by 6-3. However, Kunlavut fought his way back and scores were levelled at 15-15. Sen made use of his quick hands and powerful smashes, winning a 48-shot rally to make the scores 19-all and win the opening game.

However, the Indian's performance dipped massively in the second game and from there, the Thai shuttler continued to make inroads into the match, one point at a time. Eventually, Kunlavut emerged victorious in the 75-minute affair and sealed his spot in the finals.

A semifinal appearance in the tournament, which is a Badminton World Federation (BWF) Super 750 event, will help Sen in getting crucial points for qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics. The qualification window to the multi-sport extravaganza opened in May last year and will close on April 28.

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