Prannoy, Sat-Chi in semis; medals assured

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty. Pic/AFP

HS Prannoy battled his way to the semifinals, becoming only the first Indian in 41 years to win a badminton medal in men's singles at the Asian Games here on Thursday.

Also Read: Asian Games 2023: Sindhu admits self-doubt creeping in after quarter-final loss

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty then progressed to the last four, becoming the second Indian men's doubles pair to secure a medal after Leroy D'sa and Pradeep Gandhe won a bronze in 1982.

Playing with a taping on his lower back and a belt under his shirt, Prannoy battled severe back spasm to dish out a performance for the ages, outshining Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia 21-16, 21-23, 22-20 in the quarter-finals to assure India a second medal. Satwik and Chirag then had an easy 21-7, 21-9 win over Singapore's Nge Joo Jie and Johann Prajogo in the quarterfinals to set up a clash with Malaysia's Aaron Chia and Sooh Wooi Yik on Friday.

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever