Lakshya, Satwik-Chirag enter Hong Kong final
Hong Kong (PTI): India's Lakshya Sen entered his first major final in two years after edging out Chinese Taipei's Chou Tien Chen in straight games, while the men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also stormed into the summit clash here on Saturday.
The 23-year-old from Almora, a 2021 World Championships bronze medallist, ended a long wait for a title shot with a fighting 23-21, 22-20 win over world No. 9 and third seed Chou in a gruelling 56-minute semifinal.
The Commonwealth Games champion had last won a Super 500 tournament at the Canada Open in July 2023. He also clinched a Super 300 title at the Syed Modi International in Lucknow in December last year.
Currently ranked world No. 20, Lakshya will face second seed Li Shi Feng of China in the final.
Earlier, the world No. 9 duo of Satwik and Chirag defeated Chinese Taipei's Bing-Wei Lin and Chen Cheng-Kuan 21-17, 21-15 to make their first final of the season after six semifinal heartbreaks. The eighth-seeded Indians will take on China's Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, silver medallists at the Paris Olympics.
"Finals, finally. It's been seven semifinals since China Open last year. We've been constantly playing semifinals and I think we really wanted to play a final. It's been a while," Chirag said.
"The last final we played was the Thailand Open, probably in May, before the Olympics. We really wanted to do well here and I think we're really happy. Still one more match to go.
"World Championships was good, although we would have loved to play the final, but I think the pairs that we beat with the confidence that we had coming into the World Championships, it was quite good. But having said that, yeah, really happy that we are playing a final here, finally broke that semifinal jinx."
Lakshya read his opponent's attack well during the close-to-an-hour contest to stay ahead for most of the match. He was up 3-0 in the first game, but the 35-year-old Chou kept snapping at his heels before the Indian secured a four-point cushion at the break.
Chou clawed back to 12-12 with four straight points. The duo exchanged parallel shots, with Lakshya showing solid defence, including a forehand return into the gap, but a service fault gave Chou 15-14 lead.
The Taiwanese erred at the net, but replied with a cross-court smash. He then went long twice as Lakshya moved to 18-15. Chou thought there was a double hit during a net dribble, but the umpire ruled against him. Lakshya went long, allowing Chou to cut it to 17-18, and then levelled at 18-18 after another error from the Indian.
At 19-19, the two engaged in a 51-shot rally that ended with Chou finding the net. He hit back to make it 20-20 with a brilliant defensive retrieval. Lakshya earned a second game point when Chou netted a backhand, but squandered it with another long shot. A long serve from Chou finally gave Lakshya his third game point, which he converted with a net cord.
After a 3-3 start in the second, Lakshya slipped to 4-7 with a few errors. Chou stretched his lead to 13-10 with smashes and then to 15-12 with a series of powerful jump hits. Lakshya responded with a delicate drop but Chou regained control at 17-14.
The Indian saved two game points with an easy kill and a clean winner on the line to make it 19-20. He then produced a smash and an outstanding defensive shot to grab match point, sealing the contest again with a fortunate net cord.
The opening game saw the two pairs locked at 3-3 and 6-6 before Satwik's smashes and Chirag’s sharp interceptions helped the Indians inch ahead 11-8.
Though the Taiwanese clawed back to 12-12, the Indians surged to 15-12 and closed the game on their second game point with Chirag's angled, high-paced return.
Chen and Lin started stronger in the second, leading 4-2, but India restored parity at 6-6 after a service misjudgment from their opponents.
A couple of errors from Chirag gave the Taiwanese a 10-8 cushion, only for Satwik to unleash another booming smash to level things at 12-all.
From there, the Indians tightened their grip, moving to 17-15 as Satwik punished a weak return.
Soon it became 19-15 in India's favour before a net error by Chen handed Satwik and Chirag five match points.
The Indians converted immediately after the Taiwanese went long.
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Shivakumar clarifies on Cartier watch, hits back at BJP leader
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Friday hit back at senior BJP leader Chalavadi Narayanaswamy and clarified with records on the expensive Cartier wristwatch he had submitted in the affidavit to Lokayukta.
Claiming that he is a "transparent person", he asked whether he or Chief Minister Siddaramaiah should not have the right to wear a watch of their choice.
His clarification came a day after Narayanaswamy, who is the Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council, had questioned about the expensive watches.
"Mr Chalavadi Narayanaswamy, please take a moment to review the affidavit I submitted to the Lokayukta," Shivakumar said in a post on 'X', with documents of assets declared with Lokayukta on October 28, which mentions Rolex watch worth Rs 9 lakh and two Cartier watches worth Rs 23,90,246 and Rs 12,06,000 respectively.
The Deputy CM said, "As someone in a position of responsibility, speaking falsehoods for convenience is not only wrong but also undermines your (Narayanaswamy) integrity."
"I am a transparent person and have shared the truth openly. Do I, or even CM Siddaramaiah, not have the right to wear a watch of our choice? I urge you to refrain from making baseless remarks and exercise your constitutional authority wisely and responsibly," he said, adding that all the details are on record, and if the BJP leader wishes, he is welcome to visit the Lokayukta office and verify the affidavit himself.
Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar reportedly wore similar Cartier watches when the former visited the latter's residence for breakfast on December 2, and the opposition BJP has been critical of the expensive watches and has raised questions about it.
Pointing to reports that both the CM and Deputy CM were wearing expensive watches from the same company, Narayanaswamy on Thursday had accused Shivakuamar of not mentioning about the watches purchase to the Election Commission.
He said that Shivakumar's affidavit submitted to the Election Commission only mentioned a Rolex watch worth Rs 9 lakh and a Hublot watch worth Rs 23,90,246, but does not have any mention of a Cartier watch.
"Where have you (Shivakumar) declared a Cartier watch", the BJP leader had questioned while adding that the watch is currently valued at about Rs 47 lakh, including taxes.
Questioning whether the Cartier watch was stolen or purchased, Narayanaswamy accused Shivakumar of lying to the people by stating that he had purchased it using his credit card, and had demanded him to release the documents about the purchase.
The opposition leader, citing that the CM is a "watch lover", pointed out that Siddaramaiah, during his earlier tenure as CM, was embroiled in a controversy over a Hublot watch, which he had subsequently handed over to the Assembly secretariat, declaring it as state property.
Reacting to Shivakumar's post, Narayanaswamy on Friday, while stating that it is a well-known fact that the Deputy CM has the ability to buy and wear watches worth lakhs of rupees, asked him, "As you (Shivakumar), yourself have said, you have a Cartier watch that you bought 7 years ago, why did you not declare it in your 2018 and 2023 election affidavits?"
In a post on 'X', he said he has only put a legitimate question before Shivakumar to seek clarification. "It is up to you (Shivakumar) to answer in the right way or ignore it," he added.
Hitting back at Narayanaswamy, Shivakumar, speaking to reporters, said, anyone could check his Lokayukta affidavit and that he was ready to resign if he had lied. He also challenged the opposition leader whether he was ready to resign if proven wrong.
"Narayanaswamy lacks experience, I have filed (declaration of assets) before Lokayukta and wherever I have to. I have my watch with me. If I'm lying I'm ready to resign today itself. Is he ready? One should have basic common sense and should not speak just for publicity. I behave more responsibly than him. He should learn to work with responsibility. Let him go and see the Lokayukta affidavit that I have filed this year," he said.
