Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty stayed on course for the men’s doubles title after reaching the semifinals with a straight-game win, but PV Sindhu fell short in the women’s singles quarterfinals at the French Open Super 750 badminton tournament on Friday.
The world No. 1 Indian pair, who had won the title in 2022, cruised into the semifinals with a 21-19 21-13 victory over Thailand’s world No. 32 Supak Jomkoh and Kittinupong Kedren at the Arena Porte de la Chapelle.
Later world no. 19 Lakshya, who is trying to make the cut for Paris Olympics, also came from behind to outwit former world champion Loh Kean Yew 19-21 21-15 21-13 in a 78-minute clash.
The Asian Games champions, who had defeated Malaysian pair of Man Wei Chong and Kai Woo Tee on Thursday night, will next meet world champions and third seeds Kang Min Hyuk and Seo Seung Jae, who had beaten the Indian duo at the India Open final in January this year.
Earlier, Sindhu, who is on a comeback trail from a four-month-long injury layoff, produced a gallant fight giving ample display of her strokeplay and physical fitness during a marathon one hour and 32-minute battle against Olympic champion Chen Yu Fei of China.
The two-time Olympic medallist, however, had to settle for a 24-22 17-21 18-21 loss to the second seed and defending champion Chen in the riveting last eight battle here.
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