Rankireddy-Shetty outwit Korean pair to enter French Open finals, Lakshya bows out

Paris, Mar 10  Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty outsmarted Kang Min Hyuk-Seo Seung Jae in the French Open 2024 semifinals here on Saturday.
Rankireddy and Shetty, No.1 in the BWF rankings, defeated the reigning world champions 21-13, 21-16 to storm into their third final this year.
The duo had reached the final of the Malaysia Open but lost to the then-world No.1 Chinese pair of Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang. At the India Open final, Chirag-Satwik lost to Kang Min Hyuk and Seo Seung Jae.
Rankireddy and Shetty faced a stiff challenge at the start of the first game with 5-5 scoreline, but the pair ended the first break at 11-5, winning six straight points from down under.
The convincing win in the first game gave enough confidence to the Indian pair to add firepower to their style of badminton. Though the South Korean pair offered resistance after the break, an early lead helped India pocket the match in 40 minutes.
In the men’s singles semifinals, 19th-ranked Lakshya Sen lost 21-19, 13-21, 11-21 to world No. 8 Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand in 75 minutes.
Lakshya, the Commonwealth Games champion, dominated the opening stages of the match, but world champion Vitidsarn clawed his way back into the first game and leveled the scores at 15-15.
The Indian shuttler was on the brink of clinching the first game, but with sharp reflexes and powerful smashes, Lakshya came back by winning a 48-shot rally to win the opening game for the first time at the French Open.
The second game was one-way traffic with the Thai shuttler rattling Lakshya with his mix of attack and defence. The decider.
The decider also forged ahead in Vitidsarn's favour with Lakshya losing the plot, allowing the Thai shuttler to make the most of the open spaces.
Though Lakshya was ousted, he takes with him positives like defeating the 2021 French Open champion Kanta Tsuneyama, third seed Li Shi Feng and former world champion Loh Kean Yew.
A semifinal appearance at the French Open earns Lakshya the vital ranking points for the Paris 2024 Olympics. The qualification window for badminton for the Paris Olympics opened in May last year and will close on April 28.