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India enjoyed mixed fortunes at the Macau Open on Friday, with singles shuttlers Lakshya Sen and Tharun Mannepalli progressing to the semifinals, while the men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty suffered an early exit. Tharun, who has been the surprise package of the tournament, continued his impressive form by defeating China’s Hu Zhe’an, the current junior world champion, in a hard-fought three-game encounter.The 23-year-old Indian took the opening game comfortably, stumbled in the second, but held his nerve to win 21-12, 13-21, 21-18 and seal a spot in the last four. Earlier in the tournament, Tharun had stunned top seed Lee Cheuk Yiu of Hong Kong. He will now face Malaysia’s Justin Hoh in the semifinal on Saturday, a player he defeated earlier this year at the Thailand Open. Lakshya Sen, India’s top-ranked singles player and a Paris 2024 Olympics qualifier, also booked his semifinal berth after a gritty win over China’s Xuan Chen Zhu. Sen, ranked 17th in the world, took the match 21-14, 18-21, 21-14 in just over an hour. This marks his deepest run in a BWF World Tour event this season. He will next face Indonesia’s Alwi Farhan for a place in the final.
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In contrast, Satwik and Chirag’s campaign came to a halt in the pre-quarterfinals. The Indian duo, ranked ninth in the world, lost a close three-game match to Malaysia’s Choong Hon Jian and Muhammad Haikal. Despite leading 17-12 in the decider, the Indians were edged out 21-14, 13-21, 22-20 — their first defeat to the Malaysian pair.
