French Open: Satwiksairaj-Chirag, Sindhu and Nehwal enter quarters

Indian men’s doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty prevailed over defending world champions Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan and joined PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal in the $ 750,000 French Open quarter-finals on Friday. The World No 11 pair will be facing Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen. Rankireddy and Shetty last won the Thailand Open in August, registering a remarkable 21-18, 18-21, 21-13 victory over World No 2 Li Jun Hui and Liu Yu Chen.

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Current world champion PV Sindhu also qualified for the quarter-finals. She beat Singapore’s Yeo Jia Min 21-10, 21-13 in 34 minutes. PV Sindhu had made early exists in her last three tournaments at China, Korea and Denmark Opens. Eighth-seeded London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal triumphed over Denmark's Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt to qualify for the quarter-final and will be playing Korea’s An Se Young. Nehwal last won the Indonesia Masters earlier this year. It should be noted that An Se Young knocked out Sindhu in the opening round of Denmark Open last week.

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Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty’s stunning victory

Rankireddy and Shetty dispatched their rivals Ahsan and Setiawan in 53 minutes on Thursday, October 24. The pair had previously lost to Ahsan and Setiawan during the China Open in 2018. The Indian duo gained a 3-0 lead and reached the break with an 11-7 advantage. After the break, Ahsan and Setiawan gained a 16-14 lead, but Rankireddy and Shetty regained the lead to bag the opening game. Ahsan and Setiawan won the second game, giving the Indian duo a good fight. In the decider game, Rankireddy and Shetty established an early 11-5 advantage and won the game with a 16-6 lead.

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Sindhu and Nehwal also qualify for quarter-finals

Sindhu gained a 6-0 lead and the ended the break with a cushion of 11-4. The reigning World Champion won the first game and continued to dominate the second game as she has a 20-11 advantage. Yeo managed to save two points before Sindhu bagged the win and moved ahead to the last eight. Nehwal defeated Hojmark Kjaersfeldt 21-10, 21-11 in 27 minutes to qualify for the quarter-finals.

Also read | Saina Nehwal: Denmark Open and other first-round exits of the shuttler