Star Indian men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty entered the semi-finals of the Korea Open Super 500 tournament with a straight-game win over Japan’s Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi here on Friday.

The world No.3 Indians, seeded third, took just 40 minutes to get the better of the fifth-seeded Japanese pair 21-14, 21-17.

They will next take on second seeds Wei Keng Liang and Chang Wang of China.

It was a neck-and-neck affair till the first six points before the Indians surged ahead, pocketing four straight points. Once ahead, Satwik and Chirag managed to keep their nose in front to bag the first game easily.

The Indians made a slow start in the second game but lifted their game to lead 14-9 but the Japanese drew level at 16-16.

The Indians stepped up on the accelerator at that point to win the game and match.