French Open: Shetty-Rankireddy dominate Dutch pair; Advance to semis

In a thrilling encounter, Indian men's doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy advanced to the semi-finals of the ongoing French Open in Paris as the pair beat Denmark's pair of Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen 21-13, 22-20 in the quarter-finals on Friday, October 25. The Indian duo put up a spectacular show after crushing world No.2 and current All England Championships holder Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan, respectively out of the league. Shetty-Rankireddy have had a blissful tournament so far and showed pure intent and determination to oust the Dutch pair on their road to the semi-final. 

READ | PV Sindhu Crashes Out Of French Open After Neck-and-neck Fight

Indian duo dominates Dutch pair

Satwik and Chirag stormed to a 5-2 lead in the beginning itself and went off to break with an 11-6 lead. With the two Indian's displaying a class-apart show, they completely dominated the Danish pair. A game mixed with powerful smashes and deft touches, the duo took away any chances of a comeback by Astrup-Rasmussen and also the first game by 21-13. The second game began with the Dutch pair bagging a lead of 9-6, however, it did not take long for Shetty and Rankireddy to smash their way to make it all and headed for 11-10 lead before the break. The Dutch pair showed great intent and positivity as they pushed to level up with the Indians at 16-16. Thereafter, the game saw a bit of tension as the opponents picked up alternate points before Chirag executed a brilliant flick serve to catch Astrup off guard and then Rasmussen hit the shuttle into the net as the Indians took the match.

READ | Egypt International Mixed Doubles: Kuhoo Garg-Dhruv Rawat Bag Win

Saina and Sindhu crash out

Earlier in the day, Saina Nehwal crashed out after a 20-22, 21-23 loss to 17-year-old South Korean star An Se Young whereas PV Sindhu lost the quarter-final match against Taiwan's Tai Tzu Ying 16-21, 26-24, 17-2. Satwik-Chirag will next take on the winner of the men's doubles clash between third seed Li Jun Hui-Liu Yu Chen of China and Hiroyuki Endo-Yuta Watanabe of Japan.

READ | PV Sindhu Is The World's 13th Highest-paid Woman Athlete: Forbes

READ | Saina Nehwal Poses With Katrina Kaif For The Actor's Brand