China Masters: Satwik-Chirag duo loses in semifinals

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty lost to Jin Yong and Seo Seung Jae of South Korea 18-21, 21-14, 16-21 in the semifinals of the China Masters BWF Super-750 tournament in Shenzhen on Saturday.
The Koreans, who were playing only their second tournament as a pair, made the Indians sweat for one hour and 14 minutes. Satwik-Chirag looked unstoppable when they were on the attack but the Koreans exploited several cracks in the Indians’ defence.
In the first game Satwik-Chirag were leading 16-12 at one stage but a couple of unforced errors and a favourable net chord helped the Koreans bounce back and take the first game.
The Indian pair completely dominated the second game and from 9-7, they moved to 13-7, smashing their way through.
The tide turned in the decider when both teams were involved in a 54-shot rally, the longest of the match. The Koreans returned more than a dozen smashes before winning the point. At 19-16, Seung produced the best drop of the match to take Korea to match point before his junior partner Jin finished it with a half smash.
In the finals, Seo-Jin will face the unseeded Indonesian pair of Sabar Karyaman Gutama and Moh Reza Phlevi Isfahani.