Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty were the last Indians left standing at the Badminton Asia Championships as they assured India a men's doubles medal at the event after 52 years.
The duo beat the legendary Indonesian pair of Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan 21-11, 21-12 in just 27 minutes in the quarterfinals to ensure a podium finish with a dominant win in Dubai on Friday. It was a one-sided affair against the 'Daddies', who struggled with their physical fitness and faced a masterclass of attacking badminton from Satwik and Chirag.
In the semifinal, they will take on Olympic champions Lee Yang and Wang Chi-Len, who they have a 1-1 record against after beating them in the group stages of the Tokyo Games.
Earlier in the day, India's singles campaign ended after PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy exited the tournament in the quarterfinals.
Sindhu went down to second seed An Se Young 21-18, 5-21, 9-21 but took home some positives after one of her better showings since her comeback from a five-month injury layoff. She won her first game against the Korean, who she is yet to beat in six meetings, to carry on from her win against world No 9 Han Yue on Thursday.
Prannoy, meanwhile, retired mid-match while trailing 11-21, 9-13 against Kanta Tsuneyama, which could be a cause for concern ahead of next month's Sudirman Cup.
In mixed doubles, Rohan Kapoor and Sikki Reddy, who had got a walkover in the second round, went down to Dejan Ferdinansyah and Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja 21-18, 19-21, 21-15.
Sat-Chi smash through
Playing against their idols, Satwik and Chirag stuck to their game plan and took the attack to their older opponents, exploiting their lack of movement as the game went on.
The first game started out close and was level at 8-8 before the Indians pulled ahead. They headed into the mid-game interval with an 11-8 lead in just seven minutes and then opened up a bigger lead thereafter.
The younger legs had a clear advantage and they got all their shots right, particularly the smash which was used to good effect by both Satwik and Chirag. The only points the Indonesians were getting during this period were via unforced errors and soon the Indians had nine game points, but they needed only one when Setiawan hit wide.
It was evident that the Daddies were far from the best as Ahsan struggled to retrieve, but it was also a good performance from the Indians to not let the veterans make use of their angles.
The second game saw the Daddies lead 5-3 early on before the Indians drew level with some wonderful winners, including a sharp smash that bisected their opponents. The game was close till the Indians headed into the break with an 11-8 lead again after another point from a body smash.
Satwik and Chirag once again built their lead and didn't let their opponents build momentum every time they lost serve. They kept coming up with powerful smashes and closed out the game in under half an hour.