Key updates from Day 5:

  • Men’s doubles: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty defeat defending champions and home favourites Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi to secure India’s first-ever men’s doubles medal at the World Championships. Sat-Chi are through to the semifinals.Also read: Satwik & react after semifinal win – ‘We don’t want to stop here, want to go further’
  • Men’s singles: HS Prannoy just misses out on a medal at the worlds for the second straight year after losing in three games against China’s Zhao Jun Peng in the quarterfinals.
  • Men’s doubles: Dhruv Kapila-Arjun MR lose in straight games against Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan. The Daddies reach the semifinals and remain unbeaten at the worlds as a pair.

Men’s doubles: So for India, all eyes will be on men’s doubles semifinal lineup on Saturday. In the first match, it is an all-Indonesian battle... Alfian and Ardianto take on the legendary Ahsan and Setiawan who are undefeated as a pair at the World Championships. Satwik-Chirag take on Chia-Soh, a pair they are yet to defeat after five meetings. The most recent loss came at the mixed team event final at CWG 2022 and it stung the Indians. They’d be (they are, actually) gunning to get one back.

Satwik-Chirag match timing: It’s the third match of the day, and the session starts at 6.30 am IST. So expect it to start sometime around 8 am.

Satwik-Chirag vs Chia-Soh past meetings:

Spanish badminton star Carolina Marin vowed to get back to her dominant best after her bid for a record fourth world title was ended by Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi on Friday.

Marin is feeling her way back into competition after suffering a horror knee injury last year that forced her to miss the Tokyo Olympics and kept her out of action for a year.

She returned to the court in May this year but current world number one Yamaguchi was too strong in their world championships quarter-final in Tokyo, advancing with a 21-17, 21-17 win.

Marin said she “felt quite good” physically but “made many mistakes in my strategy” as Yamaguchi wore her down in front of an expectant home crowd.

The Spaniard said she would “keep looking forward” as she tries to recover the form that made her a three-time world champion and an Olympic gold medallist at the 2016 Rio Games.

“I know that if I keep going, if I keep practising hard, I will get back to my best level,” said the 29-year-old, who also missed last year’s worlds in her home city of Huelva because of injury.

“It’s tough to lose in a quarter-final at the worlds but this is the life and times. Sometimes we need to learn about losing.”

Yamaguchi’s win meant all four top seeds advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s competition.

The Japanese ace will face South Korea’s An Se-young, who beat China’s Han Yue in a 21-14, 15-21, 22-20 thriller, while the other match between Chen Yufei and Tai Tzu-ying will be a re-run of last year’s Olympic final.

China’s Chen, who won gold last year in Tokyo, beat Canada’s Michelle Li 21-18, 21-17, while Taiwan’s Tai advanced with a 21-16, 21-9 win over Thailand’s Busanan Ongbamrungphan.

- Loh bows out -

On the men’s side, Singapore’s defending champion Loh Kean Yew said he would try to “improve everything” after his reign ended with a 21-12, 17-21, 21-8 loss to Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn.

Number eight seed Loh said he struggled to cope with the drift inside Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium but vowed to return stronger.

“Everything I am good at, I need to become better – whatever I’m not so good at, I need to improve that as well,” he said.

Rising star Vitidsarn will face China’s Zhao Junpeng in the semi-finals after the unseeded 26-year-old beat India’s H.S. Prannoy 19-21, 21-6, 21-18.

Zhao lost in the quarter-finals at last year’s world championships and he was happy to go one better this time around.

“I think I did a lot better in my training and also mentally,” said Zhao, who stunned Malaysia’s highly fancied number five seed Lee Zii Jia in the previous round.

Taiwanese number four seed Chou Tien-chen will face hot favourite Viktor Axelsen in the other semi-final after fighting off five match points to beat Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie 14-21, 21-11, 22-20.

Axelsen continued his run of winning every match in straight games with a dominant 21-10, 21-10 victory over Indonesia’s Anthony Sinisuka Ginting.

“I wanted to play a perfect game plan,” said world number one Axelsen.

“I wanted to do my absolute best on each side of the court and I managed to do so. I was fully focused in there today.”

— Report by AFP

Replug: About a year back, we spoke to former National champion Aparna Popat on the day Satwik-Chirag’s Olympics journey came to a heartbreaking end because of how things played out in a group. Today in Tokyo, she was there at the venue when Satwik-Chirag created history. (She is with the BWF Commentary team, but wasn’t on air for the match). On that day, like most of us, she was wondering ‘just how!’ “I haven’t been able to come to terms with it,” she had said. Today she got to see them defeat the world champions and enter the semifinals. Tokyo to Tokyo, a full circle of sorts for Satwik-Chirag... and Popat too.

You can read more here.

Tokyo 2020, badminton: Satwiksairaj, Chirag Shetty and the bizarre emptiness of a win

HS Prannoy’s reaction to his heartbreak earlier today (via BWF): “He started to play better from the second game and in the first half of the third game he was able to move swiftly, better than me, and catch the shuttle high. It’s a good tournament for me. I would’ve loved to be on the podium, but that’s how it is. Some days you need to work a bit harder.”

Women’s singles: Minus PV Sindhu, the best four players in the world in the last year have reached the women’s singles semifinals while there has been carnage everywhere else in Tokyo. [1] Akane Yamaguchi vs [3] An Seyoung [4] Chen Yufei vs [2] Tai Tzu Ying. And a first Worlds medal assured for the An Seyoung but not before she survived a major scare.

Women’s singles: A brutal physical battle between two of the modern-day greats ends with a superb win for the defending champion. Marin’s tremendous comeback, for now, ends without a return to the podium. Elsewhere, An Seyoung defeated Han Yue to reach the semis... what a match that is going to be.

Women’s singles: Game 1 goes to Akane but it was closely fought and the second game sees the Spaniard in the lead. In the other quarters, Han Yue has taken the match to the decider against An Se Young.

Dr Tai Tzu Ying is through to the semifinals...

Vinayakk: Quarterfinals 1, 2 & 3: All three game matches... all more than one hour. (64 mins, 71 mins, 64 mins). Quarterfinal 4: Axelsen defeats Ginting 21-10, 21-10 in 41 mins.

Men’s singles: The defending champion is out! Kulavut Vitidsarn knocks out the defending champion Loh Kean Yew! Class of 2018, represent. End of Loh Kean Yew’s (incredible) reign as World champion. Maybe start of something special for Kunlavut.

Men’s doubles: Satwik-Chirag insist a few times over in their post-match interactions that while they are happy with today’s win, semifinal is not what they are here for. Insist a few times that they want to keep going... quotes coming up soon.

Meanwhile, heartbreak for HS Prannoy.

Men’s singles: Loh Kean Yew meanwhile has taken this to the decider.

Men’s singles: Incredible scenes on Court 2. Chou Tien Chen with a comeback for the ages! After all the quarterfinal defeats of his career, he will finally have a medal at the World championships.

Men’s singles: From 15-20 to 20-20 for Chou Tien Chen against Jonatan Christie! WOW... and now CTC has a match point! Carolina Marin yesterday, another one today?

Men’s singles: Loh in trouble in the opening game... Christie about to seal his first medal.

Men’s singles: Loh Kean Yew vs Kunlavut Vitidsarn on Court 1. This will be good. Defending world champion vs three-time junior world champion.

Men’s doubles: Satwik-Chirag’s celebratory moments, captured nicely by BadmintonPhoto. India’s streak of winning at least one medal for every edition since the 2011 World Championships continues.

Men’s singles: Court 2, another player who knows a thing or two about losing in the quarterfinals of these events versus a player also seeking his first medal. Chou vs Christie, with India’s very own Aparna Popat on commentary duties as well.

Men’s singles quarterfinals, HS Prannoy 21-19, 6-21, 18-21 Zhao Jun Peng: Prannoy saves the first match point but Zhao converts the second to secure his first worlds medal. The third game swung wildly but it was the unseeded Chinese shuttler who made the move at the right time. The end of an impressive campaign for Prannoy, though. He didn’t seem to be at his best physically today but played some fine badminton throughout.

Men’s singles quarterfinals, HS Prannoy 21-19, 6-21, 17-20 Zhao Jun Peng: Zhao wins a net exchange and has a match point now.

Men’s singles quarterfinals, HS Prannoy 21-19, 6-21, 17-19 Zhao Jun Peng: Prannoy wins a hat-trick of points and it’s a two-point game now. Can he do it?

Men’s singles quarterfinals, HS Prannoy 21-19, 6-21, 14-19 Zhao Jun Peng: Incredible defence from Prannoy but Zhao manages to get the winner and is just two points away from victory now.

Men’s singles quarterfinals, HS Prannoy 21-19, 6-21, 13-18 Zhao Jun Peng: Two more points for Zhao and he raises his fist in celebration. Prannoy trails by five now and will need a special performance from here to win the match.

Men’s singles quarterfinals, HS Prannoy 21-19, 6-21, 13-16 Zhao Jun Peng: The Chinese shuttler is three points in front and the pressure is on the Indian. He needs to make a move now.

Men’s singles quarterfinals, HS Prannoy 21-19, 6-21, 12-14 Zhao Jun Peng: Prannoy breaks a four-point streak for Zhao by nailing a smash down the line.

Men’s singles quarterfinals, HS Prannoy 21-19, 6-21, 11-13 Zhao Jun Peng: Superb reflexes from Zhao and he completes a hat-trick of points won. Crucial few minutes coming up.

Men’s singles quarterfinals, HS Prannoy 21-19, 6-21, 11-10 Zhao Jun Peng: Prannoy comes out on top after a fantastic rally and takes a slender lead to the third game interval. Both players are playing at a high level and giving it their all... could go either way.

Men’s singles quarterfinals, HS Prannoy 21-19, 6-21, 8-7 Zhao Jun Peng: A superb smash into the corner from Zhao and he takes a one-point lead. This is a tense battle now.

Men’s singles quarterfinals, HS Prannoy 21-19, 6-21, 5-5 Zhao Jun Peng: Consecutive points for Prannoy and we’re level. The Indian is playing at a familiar tempo now.

Men’s singles quarterfinals, HS Prannoy 21-19, 6-21, 3-4 Zhao Jun Peng: Prannoy pounces on one at the net and lets out a huge roar. He’s trying hard to pump himself up and get back in this.

Men’s singles quarterfinals, HS Prannoy 21-19, 6-21, 1-3 Zhao Jun Peng: An early lead for the Chinese shuttler in the third game as Prannoy tries to regain some rhythm.

Men’s singles quarterfinals, HS Prannoy 21-19, 6-21 Zhao Jun Peng: That was as one-sided a game as you will ever come across. Credit to Zhao for being clinical but Prannoy was far from his best too. He was hardly moving and seemed content in taking this match to a decider. He did say after yesterday’s match that he wasn’t feeling at his best physically. Saving energy for the decider could prove to be a good strategy but it remains to be seen how much he does have left in the tank.

Men’s singles quarterfinals, HS Prannoy 21-19, 2-15 Zhao Jun Peng: Nothing going the Indian’s way at the moment. This is quite remarkable. A 13-point lead for the Chinese shuttler.

Men’s singles quarterfinals, HS Prannoy 21-19, 2-11 Zhao Jun Peng: Well, it seems quite certain we’re going to have a decider. Prannoy isn’t playing at a great intensity and Zhao has cruised so far in the second game.

Men’s singles quarterfinals, HS Prannoy 21-19, 1-6 Zhao Jun Peng: Zhao has raced to a big lead in the second game. The Indian has dropped the tempo and is on the defensive.

Vinayakk: Prannoy says he struggled for 3-4 points after that fall. He was checking his shots, gauging his movement... and ZJP fought back. “Ho gaya chalo,” says coach Siyadath. Important to win that opening game.

Men’s singles quarterfinals, HS Prannoy 21-19 Zhao Jun Peng: Prannoy takes the first game! He seals it with a superb cross-court winner, leaving Zhao face-first on the floor. “Was just checking how the injury/pull was and ended up losing 3-4 points quickly,” he tells his coach during the changeover. We saw how crucial the first game can be in the last game. The Chinese shuttler will need a special performance to turn things around from here.

Men’s singles quarterfinals, HS Prannoy 20-19 Zhao Jun Peng: Prannoy wins a lengthy rally and lets out the loudest roar of the match so far. Game point for him.

Men’s singles quarterfinals, HS Prannoy 19-19 Zhao Jun Peng: Make that five straight points for Zhao! We’re level now and the Chinese shuttler has all the momentum. Can Prannoy fight back?

Men’s singles quarterfinals, HS Prannoy 19-17 Zhao Jun Peng: A hat-trick of points now for the Chinese shuttler and it’s a two-point game. Pressure on Prannoy.

Men’s singles quarterfinals, HS Prannoy 19-14 Zhao Jun Peng: Prannoy slips at the back court and finds himself in some discomfort but he seems good to carry on, thankfully.

Men’s singles quarterfinals, HS Prannoy 17-13 Zhao Jun Peng: A fantastic cross-court smash winner from Prannoy and he lets out another roar. He’s inching towards a lead in the match.

Vinayakk: Two men on fine runs... two unseeded players going for their first medal at the Worlds... HS Prannoy vs Zhao Jun Peng from the quarter of death. HSP starts slow, but has found a good rhythm since. This wasn’t the case in their only previous meeting, so nice early signs.

Men’s singles quarterfinals, HS Prannoy 15-10 Zhao Jun Peng: A well-disguised flick down the line from Prannoy and it leaves Zhao flat-footed. A hat-trick of points for the Indian and he leads by five now.

Men’s singles quarterfinals, HS Prannoy 13-10 Zhao Jun Peng: Zhao hits one wide after a lengthy rally and Prannoy lets out a roar. The first game, as always, will be crucial.

Men’s singles quarterfinals, HS Prannoy 11-7 Zhao Jun Peng: A solid four-point lead for Prannoy at the mid-game interval. He’s playing with a sense of calmness, as he has been in recent times.

Men’s singles quarterfinals, HS Prannoy 7-5 Zhao Jun Peng: Three straight points for Prannoy and he has a two-point lead now in the first game. The Indian is starting to find his groove after a slow-ish start.

Men’s singles quarterfinals: Time now for the third and final Indian match of the day. HS Prannoy, who defeated compatriot Lakshya Sen in the round of 16, is up against China’s Zhao Jun Peng. Prannoy has defeated the 2nd seed and 9th seed. Zhao has defeated the 5th seed and 12th seed. A quarterfinal that not many could have predicted.

Men’s doubles quarterfinals, Satwik-Chirag 24-22, 15-21, 21-14 Hoki-Kobayashi: They have done it! Satwik and Chirag are through to the semifinals, securing India’s first-ever medal in men’s doubles at the worlds. What a fantastic performance by them as they beat the home favourites and defending champions. Take a bow!

Men’s doubles quarterfinals, Satwik-Chirag 24-22, 15-21, 17-13 Hoki-Kobayashi: Well, three straight points now for the Japanese and it’s a four-point game. Nervous times for the Indians. Can they hold firm?

Men’s doubles quarterfinals, Satwik-Chirag 24-22, 15-21, 16-9 Hoki-Kobayashi: The Indians lead by seven points now! A bit of an argument between SatChi and the umpires earlier over a call but they put that behind them and are marching forward.

Vinayakk: A hush in the arena... and that is good news for the Indians. What a start to the decider as Satwik-Chirag take a 11-5 lead into the final change of ends. Think Boe said something about the backcourt play being really good, told them to relax, trust the defence but don’t fall back on it too much... in & out, in & out.

Men’s doubles quarterfinals, Satwik-Chirag 24-22, 15-21, 11-7 Hoki-Kobayashi: A mishit from Chirag at the net and the Japanese reduce the deficit to four points.

Men’s doubles quarterfinals, Satwik-Chirag 24-22, 15-21, 11-5 Hoki-Kobayashi: Four straight points for the Indians and they lead by a massive six points heading to the third game interval. The Japanese have perhaps been a bit passive so far in the decider and SatChi have played with great purpose.

Men’s doubles quarterfinals, Satwik-Chirag 24-22, 15-21, 8-5 Hoki-Kobayashi: Nice, aggressive play from Chirag at the net and he draws an error from the Japanese.

Men’s doubles quarterfinals, Satwik-Chirag 24-22, 15-21, 7-4 Hoki-Kobayashi: The Indians win consecutive points and lead by three now.

Men’s doubles quarterfinals, Satwik-Chirag 24-22, 15-21, 5-4 Hoki-Kobayashi: The Japanese review successfully as Chirag’s shot lands just wide and it’s a one-point game now.

Men’s doubles quarterfinals, Satwik-Chirag 24-22, 15-21, 4-1 Hoki-Kobayashi: Aggressive play from the Indians and they lead by three now. The Indians playing at a higher tempo now.

Vinayakk: “Don’t stand still, full on boys...,” is all I could get from coach Mathias Boe but guess it is about staying on the move mostly. Animated coach Tan too. So much riding on this final game.

Men’s doubles quarterfinals, Satwik-Chirag 24-22, 15-21, 2-0 Hoki-Kobayashi: Chirag puts a smash away and the Indians are off to a good start.

Men’s doubles quarterfinals, Satwik-Chirag 24-22, 15-21 Hoki-Kobayashi: The defending champs win five straight points to close out the second game and take us to a decider. SatChi were on the back foot for the most part in that second game and will need to regroup quickly. The momentum is definitely with the Japanese.

Men’s doubles quarterfinals, Satwik-Chirag 24-22, 15-19 Hoki-Kobayashi: A four-point lead now for the Japanese pair. We’re inching towards a decider.

Men’s doubles quarterfinals, Satwik-Chirag 24-22, 15-18 Hoki-Kobayashi: Incredible point as the Japanese turn defence into attack and clinch it. The Indians gave it their all, with Chirag putting in another dive, but it wasn’t enough.

Men’s doubles quarterfinals, Satwik-Chirag 24-22, 13-16 Hoki-Kobayashi: Chirag puts in a big dive and keeps the shuttle in before Satwik attempts a shot from behind his back and finds the net. The Japanese lead by three.

Men’s doubles quarterfinals, Satwik-Chirag 24-22, 12-14 Hoki-Kobayashi: Three straight points now for the Indians and it’s a two-point game again. Impressive fightback by SatChi after making a few errors. Meanwhile, Hoki is getting some treatment done now on his finger.

Men’s doubles quarterfinals, Satwik-Chirag 24-22, 9-14 Hoki-Kobayashi: This time Satwik hits one into the net and the Japanese get a five-point lead. The Indians have been erratic in the last few minutes.

Men’s doubles quarterfinals, Satwik-Chirag 24-22, 9-11 Hoki-Kobayashi: Chirag misses a regulation put-away and the defending champs take a two-point lead to the interval. Can the Indians fight back and close the match out in straight games?

Men’s doubles quarterfinals, Satwik-Chirag 24-22, 9-9 Hoki-Kobayashi: It’s still level as the Indians induce an error from the Japanese. The second game has been a bit scrappy so far.

Men’s doubles quarterfinals, Satwik-Chirag 24-22, 6-6 Hoki-Kobayashi: Well, it’s all-square in the second game too. The Japanese started positively but the Indians have stayed with them.

Men’s doubles quarterfinals, Satwik-Chirag 24-22 Hoki-Kobayashi: The Indians take the first game! They convert their second game point after saving two earlier to close out a tense opener. A calm reaction from them to as they change ends. How crucial could that be in this match of fine margins. The defending champions will need a special effort to recover from losing the opener.

Men’s doubles quarterfinals, Satwik-Chirag 22-22 Hoki-Kobayashi: This time it’s the Japanese who save a game point. What a game this has turned out to be.

Men’s doubles quarterfinals, Satwik-Chirag 21-21 Hoki-Kobayashi: Another game point saved by the Indians and the score remains locked. It’s going to take a moment of inspiration to break the deadlock here.

Men’s doubles quarterfinals, Satwik-Chirag 20-20 Hoki-Kobayashi: The Indians save a game point and we’re level again.

Men’s doubles quarterfinals, Satwik-Chirag 19-19 Hoki-Kobayashi: Chirag hits the shuttle long in consecutive points and we’re back level yet again. This is intense.

Men’s doubles quarterfinals, Satwik-Chirag 19-17 Hoki-Kobayashi: Incredible defence from Chirag and the Indians win another point. They lead by two now and are pumped.

Men’s doubles quarterfinals, Satwik-Chirag 18-17 Hoki-Kobayashi: The Indians have the lead! This is a game of such fine margins. Can SatChi hold on?

Men’s doubles quarterfinals, Satwik-Chirag 16-16 Hoki-Kobayashi: Consecutive points now for the Indians and we’re back level. This is a tense, tense battle.

Men’s doubles quarterfinals, Satwik-Chirag 14-16 Hoki-Kobayashi: Make that seven straight points for the defending champs. They have turned things around in some style after being 9-14 down. But the Indians are still in this, they have got to believe.

Men’s doubles quarterfinals, Satwik-Chirag 14-14 Hoki-Kobayashi: Oh dear, the Japanese win five straight points and we’re level now. Pressure on the Indians.

Men’s doubles quarterfinals, Satwik-Chirag 14-9 Hoki-Kobayashi: Consecutive points for the Indians and they have restored a five-point lead. Can they hold firm in the business end of the game?

Men’s doubles quarterfinals, Satwik-Chirag 12-8 Hoki-Kobayashi: The defending champs win consecutive points and reduce the deficit to four points. Crucial few minutes coming up.

Men’s doubles quarterfinals, Satwik-Chirag 11-5 Hoki-Kobayashi: Chirag nails a backhand down the line and the Indians take a big lead to the first game interval. Satwik and Chirag have dictated play so far but the Japanese can be expected to fight back.

Men’s doubles quarterfinals, Satwik-Chirag 9-5 Hoki-Kobayashi: Some miscommunication from the Indians a couple of times and it’s a four-point game now.

Men’s doubles quarterfinals, Satwik-Chirag 7-2 Hoki-Kobayashi: A five-point lead now. Satwik and Chirag are playing with great intensity and inducing errors from the defending champs.

Men’s doubles quarterfinals, Satwik-Chirag 5-1 Hoki-Kobayashi: A nice, long-ish rally and the Indians come out on top as the Japanese hit one wide. Four-point lead early on for SatChi.

Men’s doubles quarterfinals, Satwik-Chirag 3-0 Hoki-Kobayashi: The Indians are off to a good start, winning the first three points of the match.

Vinayakk – Men’s doubles quarterfinals, Satwik-Chirag vs Hoki-Kobayashi: Well, this promises to be a blockbuster doesn’t it? The red-hot Indian duo, having a wonderful season take on the defending champions and 2nd seeds from Japan... who will have Tan Kim Her behind them, the man who was responsible for the original rise of Satwik-Chirag. There were reports of Coach Tan returning to India for another stint earlier this year and a deal was in place, but it fell through. So this is a reunion but of a different kind. On court, Hoki and Kobayashi will offer a stern test to SatChi, the Japanese pair known for their rock solid technique and rotation on court (left-right combo as well). The H2H is 1-1 but the pairs haven’t met since November 2019 and so much has changed for all four of them since.

Men’s doubles quarterfinals, Dhruv-Arjun 8-21, 14-21 Ahsan-Setiawan: Ahsan and Setiawan win the match in 28 minutes and remain unbeaten at the world championships. Another masterful performance by the Daddies. The end of a memorable campaign for Arjun and Dhruv, they played some solid badminton to get this far and would have surely learnt a lot from this experience.

Men’s doubles quarterfinals, Dhruv-Arjun 8-21, 13-18 Ahsan-Setiawan: Another unreturned smash by the Indians and that leaves the Daddies just three points away from the semifinals and another medal.

Men’s doubles: On Court 2, superb from Lee/Shin to force the decider against former champions Matsumoto/Nagahara. Gives us some more time for the start of SatChi.

Men’s doubles quarterfinals, Dhruv-Arjun 8-21, 10-16 Ahsan-Setiawan: Dhruv-Arjun are fighting hard but the Daddies just have answers for most plays at the moment. The Indonesian legends are inching towards the finish line.

Men’s doubles quarterfinals, Dhruv-Arjun 8-21, 9-13 Ahsan-Setiawan: The Indians have won three out of the first five points after the interval. They’re surely playing a lot better in this second game but need to keep going.

Men’s doubles quarterfinals, Dhruv-Arjun 8-21, 6-11 Ahsan-Setiawan: A big lead again for Ahsan-Setiawan at the second game interval. There hasn’t been any long rally so far in the match... just short, sharp points with the Daddies holding the edge.

Vinayakk: “Show some more attitude,” adds coach Mathias Boe in the interval after asking Arjun-Dhruv to reset (as well as some tactical advice that I didn’t catch). Hope they can still make a fight out of this... no shame in losing to Daddies, but let’s make this one close.

Men’s doubles quarterfinals, Dhruv-Arjun 8-21, 4-9 Ahsan-Setiawan: Four straight points now for the Daddies, they’re pulling away again.

Men’s doubles quarterfinals, Dhruv-Arjun 8-21, 4-5 Ahsan-Setiawan: Much better from the Indians as they rush their opponents and win consecutive points. This could be a closer game.

Men’s doubles quarterfinals, Dhruv-Arjun 8-21, 1-3 Ahsan-Setiawan: Early lead for the Indonesians in the second game too. Arjun guilty of being too far back in the court while defending.

Men’s doubles quarterfinals, Dhruv-Arjun 8-21 Ahsan-Setiawan: Well, that was one-way traffic in the first game as the Indonesians win it in just 12 minutes. Dhruv-Arjun looked better in the second half of that game but continued to make errors and give Ahsan-Setiawan easy points. They’ll need to settle quickly to have any chance of forcing a decider.

Men’s doubles quarterfinals, Dhruv-Arjun 6-18 Ahsan-Setiawan: Better from the Indians as they win three straight points but the Daddies win the next two.

Men’s doubles quarterfinals, Dhruv-Arjun 3-16 Ahsan-Setiawan: Another error by the Indians, they continue to be held back by nerves. Ahsan-Setiawan are not pushing too hard but still cruising.

Men’s doubles quarterfinals, Dhruv-Arjun 1-11 Ahsan-Setiawan: Well, the Indonesians have raced to a massive lead in just five minutes. They’ve been the more aggressive pair on the court so far and the Indians have made a number of errors. Dhruv-Arjun will need to forget that start.

Men’s doubles quarterfinals, Dhruv-Arjun 1-4 Ahsan-Setiawan: The Daddies get a strong start, winning the first four points, before the Indians get on the board.

Men’s doubles quarterfinals, Dhruv-Arjun vs Ahsan-Setiawan: Dhruv-Arjun, it’s fair to say, have a task that no one has completed at the World Championships. To defeat Ahsan-Setiawan – the Daddies – at the World Championships in a completed match. The legends have won every match in the three editions they have taken part as a pair, winning the title three times. The Indians trail 0-4 in H2H but if you have followed them closely, you will know they have been close. Three of those four matches went the distance (and the other an early retirement).

Hello and welcome to live updates from day five of the 2022 BWF World Championships in Tokyo.

It’s quarterfinals day in Tokyo! For everyone who wins a match today, a medal is assured. Indian shuttlers are going to be in action in three matches today. Dhruv Kapila/Arjun MR and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty are going to compete in men’s doubles, while HS Prannoy will play in men’s singles.

India's quarterfinals schedule (IST)

Match  Venue  Approx time (IST) 
MR Arjun-Dhruv Kapila vs Mohammed Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan [3]  Court 1, Match 2  7.15 am  
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty vs Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi [2]  Court 2, Match 3  8.00 am 
HS Prannoy vs Zhao Jun Peng  Court 2, Match 4  8.45 am

Key updates from Day 4:

  • Men’s singles: HS Prannoy comes from a game down to defeat compatriot Lakshya Sen in a thrilling match. In the quarterfinal he will face Zhao Jun Peng, who stunned 5th seed Lee Zii Jia.
  • Men’s doubles: Dhruv Kapila and MR Arjun reach the quarterfinals with a brilliant comeback win against Singapore’s Terry Hee and Loh Kean Hean. To face three-time former champions Ahsan/Setiawan next.
  • Men’s doubles: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty reach the quarters with a straight-games win against Denmark’s Jeppe Bay and Lasse Molhede. To face defending champions Hoki/Kobayashi next.
  • Women’s singles: Saina Nehwal puts up a fight after a slow start but loses in three games against Thai 12th seed Busanan Ongbamrungphan in the round of 16.

Screenshots in the blog courtesy BWF / Viacom 18 / Tournament Software

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