Satwik-Chirag, Lakshya enter quarterfinals at Hong Kong Open

Hong Kong: India's Lakshya Sen reached his first men's singles quarterfinal of a top BWF World Tour event in six months, while Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also advanced at the USD 500,000 Hong Kong Open Super 500 badminton tournament here on Thursday.

Former world championships bronze medallist Lakshya, ranked 20th, rallied past compatriot HS Prannoy 15-21 21-18 21-10 in the second round.

The 23-year-old, who finished fourth at the Paris Olympics, will next face either Japan's Kodai Naraoka or India's Ayush Shetty.

Lakshya, who has battled injuries and patchy form this season, last made the semifinals at the All England Super 1000 in March and reached the same stage at the Macau Open Super 300, but had otherwise endured early exits.

World no. 9 Satwik and Chirag, fresh from their second World Championships bronze in Paris, will next face Malaysia's Junaidi Arif and Roy King Yap.

In the men's singles match, Prannoy looked in good touch as he had a smooth ride in the opening game, leading from start to finish without much ado.

The 33-year-old from Thiruvananthapuram carried the momentum initially, opening up a 4-0 lead after the change of sides, but then a six-point burst helped Lakshya topple his senior pro. It turned out to be a tight battle thereafter as the lead exchanged hands too frequently.

At 18-18, Lakshya clawed back with a deep smash. Prannoy smashed wide and then faltered at the front court as Lakshya grabbed two game points and converted when Prannoy went long.

In the decider, Prannoy had a 5-2 lead again but then errors started creeping in as he fell behind 9-13 after he missed the sideline and hit out. A net shot helped Lakshya move to 16-10.

As Prannoy continued to succumb to unforced errors, Lakshya soon grabbed 10 match points and sealed it when the former miscued another shot.

Satwik-Chirag roll on

The Indian pair had a slow start, trailing 8-11 in the opening game as Sukphun and Teeraratsakul dominated. Although they fought back to 18-18, the Thai duo secured the final three points to claim the opener.

Stung by the setback, the Indians played with renewed intensity in the second game. After a tight tussle from 2-2 to 7-7, they grabbed an 11-10 lead at the mid-game break and steadily pulled ahead to take the match to the decider.

The third game was one-sided as Satwik and Chirag raced to a 7-2 lead and then surged further as the Thai pair faltered.