Satwik-Chirag reach semis, Unnati Hooda bows out

Asian Games champions Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty stormed into the men’s doubles semi-finals at the China Open 2025 badminton tournament with a comfortable win over Malaysia’s Yew Sin Ong and Ee Yi Teo on Friday.

Playing at the Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium in Changzhou, the People’s Republic of China, Satwik and Chirag won 21-18, 21-14 to make it to their fourth semi-final of the 2025 badminton season.

They previously made the last four at the India, Singapore and Malaysia Opens.

Satwik and Chirag made a confident start, racing to a 4-1 lead in the opening game. Though the Malaysians clawed back to make it 19-18, the Indian badminton players held their collective nerves to close out the game.

In the second game, the world No. 12 Indian pair kept their noses ahead before pulling away from 15-14 with six unanswered points to seal the match in 40 minutes.

Chirag and Satwik will next face familiar opponents in world No. 2 Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik of Malaysia. The Malaysian badminton players had beaten the Indian pair in the quarter-finals of the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Meanwhile, Unnati Hooda’s inspiring run at the BWF Super 1000 tournament came to an end in the quarter-finals. The 17-year-old tennis player, 35th in the badminton rankings, lost 21-16, 21-12 to Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi, the world No. 4 and a two-time world champion.

Unnati had stunned two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu in the pre-quarterfinals after opening her campaign with a confident win over Commonwealth Games medallist Kirsty Gilmour of Scotland.

The teenager was the last remaining Indian in the singles draw.

Unnati matched her opponent early on and even led 6-5 in the opening game, but the Japanese ace strung together five consecutive points to wrest control.

The second game followed a similar pattern, with Unnati level at 8-all before Yamaguchi accelerated and wrapped up the match in just 33 minutes.

India’s campaign in men’s singles ended on Thursday, with HS Prannoy losing to sixth seed Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei in the round of 16. Lakshya Sen, a Paris 2024 semi-finalist, was knocked out in the opening round on Tuesday.

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