Swiss Open Super 300, QF as it happened: Satwik/Chirag come-from-behind to defeat Bay/Molhede
Satwik-Chirag reach the semifinals in Basel.
MD quarterfinals, Bay / Molhede 21-15, 11-21, 15-21 Satwik / Chirag: Another sluggish start but much more comfortable in the end than last night, no match points saving business and all. SatChi are through to the semifinal action on Saturday. A great contest on the cards vs third seeds from Malaysia, Ong Yew Sin / Teo Ee Yi. The Indians trail 2-3 on the H2H. The other semifinal is an unseeded battle.
Note: Second game score corrected to 21-11 through the blog.
MD quarterfinals, Bay / Molhede 21-15, 11-21, 15-21 Satwik / Chirag: SatChi win! The Indians are through to the semifinals in Basel! A three-game battle but comfortable in the end as the second seeds clinch the decider 21-14.
MD quarterfinals, Bay / Molhede 21-15, 11-21, 14-20 Satwik / Chirag: The flick serves haven’t quite come off today. One match point saved.
MD quarterfinals, Bay / Molhede 21-15, 11-21, 13-20 Satwik / Chirag: Chirag makes up with a good point, and soon enough, match points with the help of net cord.
MD quarterfinals, Bay / Molhede 21-15, 11-21, 13-18 Satwik / Chirag: Oh boy, another service fault on height. This on Chirag.
MD quarterfinals, Bay / Molhede 21-15, 11-21, 12-18 Satwik / Chirag: Powerful backhand from Chirag at the net.
MD quarterfinals, Bay / Molhede 21-15, 11-21, 12-17 Satwik / Chirag: Poor line judges getting overworked at the moment with the mopping after some dives.
MD quarterfinals, Bay / Molhede 21-15, 11-21, 10-17 Satwik / Chirag: Fabulous defensive work by Molhede to keep this fabulous rally going but it ends shortly as the Indians see the shuttle go wide after a lift. Finish line in sight.
MD quarterfinals, Bay / Molhede 21-15, 11-21, 10-16 Satwik / Chirag: The Danes just about staying in this.
“Let’s go Denmark, let’s go,” in the most soporific tune possible.
“Come on India” with a little more energy follows.
10 pm in Basel.
MD quarterfinals, Bay / Molhede 21-15, 11-21, 8-13 Satwik / Chirag: A lucky net cord for the Indians after a superb flat exchange.
MD quarterfinals, Bay / Molhede 21-15, 11-21, 8-11 Satwik / Chirag: Ah another service error for height, this time by Satwik.
MD quarterfinals, Bay / Molhede 21-15, 11-21, 7-11 Satwik / Chirag: Satwik-Chirag with some fine winners in this phase of play and they hold a good lead at the final change of ends. Can they see this through?
MD quarterfinals, Bay / Molhede 21-15, 11-21, 6-10 Satwik / Chirag: The Danes are left looking at each other as Satwik nails a smash between them while back pedalling.
MD quarterfinals, Bay / Molhede 21-15, 11-21, 6-8 Satwik / Chirag: The serves getting exchanged here.
MD quarterfinals, Bay / Molhede 21-15, 11-21, 4-7 Satwik / Chirag: The Indians starting to pull away slightly. Couple of brilliant flat exchanges.
MD quarterfinals, Bay / Molhede 21-15, 11-21, 4-4 Satwik / Chirag: event start to the third game.
MD quarterfinals, Bay / Molhede 21-15, 11-21 Satwik / Chirag: Similar pattern to last night so far but I’d imagine Satwik/Chirag will want a better start than their 3-9 to the decider last night.
Here’s how the 2nd game panned out.
MD quarterfinals, Bay / Molhede 21-15, 10-21 Satwik / Chirag: We have a decider. The Indians took an early lead and held on for the rest of the game. The quality wasn’t the greatest from both sides of the net towards the back-end but the Indians won’t mind for now.
MD quarterfinals, Bay / Molhede 21-15, 10-20 Satwik / Chirag: 10 game points for the Indians.
MD quarterfinals, Bay / Molhede 21-15, 9-19 Satwik / Chirag: BEST RALLY OF THE MATCH! Terrific defence from the Dane to hang on for as long as they did, the Indians too managed a couple of dicey positions but th pressure is enough at the end.
MD quarterfinals, Bay / Molhede 21-15, 9-18 Satwik / Chirag: Booming smash from Chirag to briefly half a mini revival.
MD quarterfinals, Bay / Molhede 21-15, 7-16 Satwik / Chirag: It’s all a bit scratchy in the second game at the moment but the Indians are staying ahrd.
MD quarterfinals, Bay / Molhede 21-15, 3-11 Satwik / Chirag: One of the better rallies in the 2nd game and it goes the Indians’ way as we head into the interval.
MD quarterfinals, Bay / Molhede 21-15, 1-8 Satwik / Chirag: This is more than just decent. A brilliant start to the 2nd game for the Indians.
MD quarterfinals, Bay / Molhede 21-15, 1-5 Satwik / Chirag: This is a decent start to the opening exchanges of the second game from the Indians. Flat and fast, with control. If I remember right, this was the same side order they went last night too. Had more success from the far side where they played the second game like they are doing now.
MD quarterfinals, Bay / Molhede 21-15 Satwik / Chirag: The Indians have once again dropped the opening game, and will have to try and fight back. Slow start hurt them.
MD quarterfinals, Bay / Molhede 20-15 Satwik / Chirag: Good rally, and it ends with a lovely blindside smash from Bay. Satwik sends a crosscourt long and it is game points.
MD quarterfinals, Bay / Molhede 18-15 Satwik / Chirag: Good return by Molhede to stop that mini run. And they have a good lead now again.
MD quarterfinals, Bay / Molhede 16-15 Satwik / Chirag: The serves changing hands at the moment. Good point there by the Indians to bring the lead down to 2 and then 1... small but useful run of points on Satwik’s serve.
MD quarterfinals, Bay / Molhede 15-12 Satwik / Chirag: The gap is closing. Good flick serve this time by Chirag.
MD quarterfinals, Bay / Molhede 15-9 Satwik / Chirag: That’s got to frustrate the Indians again. Service fault for height from Satwik as he too doesn’t get the flick serve right.
MD quarterfinals, Bay / Molhede 13-8 Satwik / Chirag: There’s a good crosscourt winner from Chirag after a well-played point. Something to build on.
MD quarterfinals, Bay / Molhede 13-7 Satwik / Chirag: The Danes are doing a good job of keeping the Indians on the backfoot.
MD quarterfinals, Bay / Molhede 11-6 Satwik / Chirag: Not the best of starts for the Indians as they trail 6-11 in the interval of the opening game. Another soft error there as Chirag’s flick serve goes long.
MD quarterfinals, Bay / Molhede 9-5 Satwik / Chirag: A terrific defensive play by the Danes but the Indians’ pressure pays off. They are starting to find some rhythm here but maybe still not comfortable on their lengths.
MD quarterfinals, Bay / Molhede 6-2 Satwik / Chirag: And not dissimilar to yesterday, the Indians are off the blocks a bit slow.
MD quarterfinals, Bay / Molhede 4-0 Satwik / Chirag: A solid start for the Danes.
Hello and welcome to live coverage of badminton, we will be tracking Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty’s quarterfinal at the Swiss Open Super 300 where they are the last Indians standing.
The Indians had to first fight back from a game down and then 3-9 down in the decider, to prevail against Chinese Taipei’s Fang-Chih Lee and Fang-Jen Lee 12-21 21-17 28-26. The world No 70 pair also saved four match points on their part before Satwik-Chirag prevailed.
Satwik-Chirag about to get on court for their quarterfinal match in Basel. They take on Jeppe Bay and Lasse Mølhede. The Indians hold a 1-0 advantage against the world No 27 Danes.
Screenshots in the blog via BWF TV / Tournament Software