Paris: Indian men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty stunned top seeds Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi of Japan in straight games to enter the semifinals of the French Open badminton tournament here Friday.
Seeded seventh in the Super 750 event, Rankireddy and Shetty won 21-12 21-16 in a quarterfinal match that lasted 49 minutes.
The Indian duo will face the Korean pair of Choi Sol Gyu and Kim Won Ho in the semifinals.
Rankireddy and Shetty are the only Indians left in the fray in the tournament. Kidambi Srikanth, HS Prannoy and Sameer Verma lost in the men’s singles pre-quarterfinals on Thursday.
PTI