Hong Kong, Sep 13 (UNI) Indian shuttlers Lakshya Sen and the men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty produced commanding performances today to book their places in the finals of the Hong Kong Open 2025 badminton tournament. Both matches ended in straight games, marking an important breakthrough for the trio on the BWF World Tour this season.
Lakshya, ranked 20th in the world, shocked third seed and former world No. 2 Chou Tien-chen of Chinese Taipei with a 23-21, 22-20 win in the men’s singles semifinals at the Hong Kong Coliseum.
The 23-year-old Indian raced to a 3-0 lead in the opening game and maintained an 11-7 advantage at the mid-game interval. Chou, however, clawed his way back, saving two game points before Lakshya sealed the first game.
The second game saw Chou turn the tables and earn three game points, threatening to force a decider. Lakshya, a Paris 2024 Olympic semifinalist, responded with poise under pressure, saving all three game points and finishing the contest with five consecutive winners.
The victory propelled him into his first BWF World Tour final since clinching the Syed Modi International crown last year. He will face ninth-ranked Li Shifeng of China, an Olympian, in tomorrow’s championship match.
In men’s doubles, Rankireddy and Chirag ended a run of five semifinal exits in 2025 with a 21-17, 21-15 triumph over Lin Bing-wei and Chen Cheng Kuan of Chinese Taipei. The Indian duo, seeded second, controlled the opening game with sharp net play and powerful smashes. In the second, they trailed 9-11 at the break but surged ahead by claiming 12 of the next 16 points, sealing the win in just 38 minutes.
The world No. 3 pair will now take on sixth seeds Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang of China, the Paris 2024 silver medallists, in the final. The two pairs have faced off nine times previously, with Satwik and Chirag winning three, including their most recent clash at the 2024 BWF World Championships.
The Hong Kong Open, a BWF Super 500 tournament, has seen a resurgence of Indian challenge this year, with both Lakshya and Satwik-Chirag advancing to their first finals of the 2025 season, raising hopes of a double title for India on Sunday.
