India’s top men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty stormed into the semifinals of the China Masters 2025 with a commanding straight-games victory over Ren Xiang Yu and Xie Haonan at the Shenzhen Arena in Shenzhen, China on Friday.
Satwik-Chirag, who had finished runners-up in the Hong Kong Open 2025 last week, outclassed China’s Ren Xiang Yu and Xie Haonan 21-14, 21-14 in 38 minutes during their quarterfinal clash of the USD 1,250,000 prize money tournament.
Seeded eighth in the men’s doubles competition, Rankireddy and Shetty, who are ranked fourth in the BWF World Rankings, had earlier defeated Chiu Hsiang Cheh and Chi-Lin Wang of Chinese Taipei 21-13, 21-12 in the second round.
China Masters 2025 Quarterfinal: Satwik-Chirag vs Xiang Yu-Xie Haonan
In their quarterfinal on Friday, Rankireddy and Shetty made a flying start, racing to a 7-0 lead in the opening game. The Chinese pair narrowed the gap to 8–4, but the Indians maintained control, stretching their advantage to 11-5 and then 17-10, before sealing the first game 21–14.
In the second game, the contest was tight early on with frequent lead changes until the score reached 6-6. Rankireddy and Shetty then surged ahead to 10-7, and although Ren Xiang Yu and Xie Haonan closed the gap to 10-13 and later 12–14, the Indian pair maintained their advantage.
From 15-13, Rankireddy and Shetty took charge of the match and wrapped up victory at 21-14, winning five points in a row in the process.
In the semifinals, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will meet the seeded Malaysian pair Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik, who defeated Leo Rolly Carnando and Bagas Maulana of Indonesia, for a place in their second successive final.
China Masters 2025: PV Sindhu Loses To An Se-young In Quarter-Finals
Meanwhile, PV Sindhu’s struggles against top seed and Olympic champion An Se-young continued as the star Indian badminton player lost her China Masters 2025 women’s singles quarter-finals match at the Shenzhen Arena.
Sindhu, a Rio 2016 silver and Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist, lost 21-14, 21-13 in 38 minutes against the world No. 1 badminton player from the Republic Korea.
With Friday’s loss, Sindhu extended her losing run against An Se-young to eight matches, leaving the Indian still chasing her maiden victory over the South Korean.
After the match, Sindhu admitted that her own errors played a big part in the defeat.
“I think there were some good rallies, but I was making unforced errors and gave her the lead from the beginning. She was always ahead by five or six points, and even when I came closer, she pulled away again,” she said.
The 30-year-old Sindhu also preferred to take positives from the contest against An Se-young.
“Overall, it was a good experience playing with her after a long time. I need to identify what needs improvement from my side and come back stronger. Maybe I could have played more consistently, but next time I face her, I’ll keep that in mind,” she said.