Thailand Open: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Ashwini Ponappa enter blended doubles semifinals with upset win

India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponappa shocked fifth seeds Peng Soon Chan and Liu Ying Goh of Malaysia in a hard-fought three-game contest to enter the blended doubles semifinals of the Toyota Thailand Open badminton event right here on Friday.
The unseeded Indian pair toiled arduous for one hour and quarter-hour to beat their world no. 6 Malaysian opponents 18-21 24-22 22-20 in a nail-bitting quarterfinal duel.
Rankireddy and Ponappa, world no. 22, shall be up in opposition to the winners of the final quarterfinal match between prime seeds Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai of Thailand and Korean duo of Sung Hyun Ko and Hye Won Eom.
Sixth seed Indian PV Sindhu will tackle Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon, seeded fourth, within the ladies’s singles quarterfinals, whereas Sameer Verma will play third seed Anders Antonsen of Denmark within the males’s singles last-eight spherical later within the day.
Rankireddy will then staff up with Chirag Shetty to face Malaysia’s Yew Sin Ong and Ee Yi Teo within the males’s doubles quarterfinals.