Yonex Swiss Open 2021: Ashwini/Satwik upset 2nd seeds, Sikki/Pranav crash out

Ashwini and Satwik upset the fifth seeds to storm into the semi-finals

Ashwini Ponnappa, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy — **Ashwini Ponnappa and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy**

Badminton returns after a short break of about a month with the Yonex Swiss Open 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the 2020 calendar season culminated in January 2021 with the BWF World tour finals 2020 being held as the last tournament of the Asian leg held in Thailand.

It was three weeks of wonderful badminton. With the Swiss Open, the action is back yet again and also bearing Olympic qualification points.

Ashwini/Satwik upset second seeds

Ashwini and Satwik who put up a very promising performance against world number 8 Hafiz Faizal and Gloria Widjaja of Indonesia in the Asian leg, face off again. The Indians had beaten them in the earlier rounds of the Thailand Open.

FS Video

The match today also started off on an interesting note and went neck-to-neck. 8 minutes into the game the score was 10-10. They kept up pace maintained a consistent lead 15-13 in game one, and then 16-14. With much attack and persistence in the attack, the Indian pair wrapped up the first game 21-18 in 20 minutes.

Ashwini and Satwik were off to a great start in the second game as they stormed off to a 5-2 lead. The Indian Duo were dominant in the second game as they took up a 15-7 lead post the mid game interval. It did not take them much time before bagging the second game in their favour 21-10 to storm off into the second round.

With such consistent spectacular performance coming in from the duo, is this a promising period for doubles in India? The mixed doubles pair of Ashwini and Satwik are going places beating some of the best in the world.

YONEX Swiss Open 2021 (New Dates)
XD – Round of 32
??Satwiksairaj RANKIREDDY?
21 21 ??Ashwini PONNAPPA?
18 10 ??Hafiz FAIZAL
??Gloria Emanuelle WIDJAJA

? in 38 minutes
https://t.co/EPfJroDvq7
— BWFScore (@BWFScore) March 2, 2021

Sikki and Pranav go down fighting

Sikki Reddy Pranav Chopra Swiss OPen 2021 — **Sikki Reddy and Pranav Jerry Chopra**

It was a hard start for the pair of Sikki Reddy and Pranav Chopra in the first round of Swiss Open 2021, against the 3rd seeded English pair of Lauren Smith and Marcus Ellis. The match started going close 4-4. The Indian pair kept up pace with the English and returned the shots being thrown at them.

However, it was not enough to convert the game in their favor as they dropped the first game 21-18. The English slowly grew dominant in the second game. The Indians were trying and keeping up toe-to-toe against their opponents.

However, Lauren and Marcus went into the mid-game interval with a two-point lead, 11-9. The point gap widened to 16-10 as the English attacked relentlessly. The sealed the match in their favour beating the Indians with their speed and aggression, 21-18, 21-15.

Top seeds survive a scare

First seeded pair, Olympic silver medalists, Goh Liu Ying and Chan Peng Soon of Malaysia edged past Nipitphon Phuangphuapet and Benyapa Aimsaard of Thailand. They won the first game comfortably 21-15.

The second set was a turnaround in the first half when the young Thai pair took a lead of 9-5. The experienced pair gradually narrowed down the gap 14-11, but the Thai again took a lead 17-12. The young pair played a game of their life taking way the game 21-15. The Malaysian pair pulled up their socks and came back up in the decider. They won the decider 21-19 with tough resistance from the youngsters.

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