Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty overcome mid-tournament slump to reach men’s doubles final to keep India’s flag flying
Posted Date – 07:00 AM, Sun – 3/26/23
Basel: A dynamic doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty overcame a half-time slump to keep the Indian flag flying in the men’s doubles final of the Swiss Open Super Series 300 badminton event here on Saturday.
World sixth-ranked second-seeded Indians defeated third-seeded Malaysians Ong Yew Sin and Teo Yi Yee 21-19 17-21 21-17 in a thrilling semi-final that lasted an hour and nine minutes.
Satvik and 2022 World Championships bronze medalist Chirag will face Chinese unseeded duo Ren Xiangyu and Tan Qiang at the summit on Sunday.
With this win, Satwik and Chirag are tied 3-3 against Ong and Teo.
Earlier, Satwik and Chirag defeated the Danish duo of Jeppe Bay and Lasse Molhede in three hard-fought fights.
The Indian duo overcame the challenge in 54 minutes, winning 15-21 21-11 21-14. After 84 minutes of hard fighting, the quarter-finals were won.
Satwik and Chirag are the only remaining Indian contenders in a tournament where the likes of PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen lost early.
In the quarter-finals, the Indian team did not start well and easily lost the first game 15-21. The pair did come back in the middle of the game, narrowing the point difference to just one point, with both sides trailing 15-16.
However, the Danish combination scored 6 points in a row and easily ended the first game.
In the second game, the Indian team accelerated the pace and quickly got a buffer of 7 points during the intermission. After the score was equalized, they extended their lead to 10 points.
The third game started evenly, but the Indians performed well at the net, leading 11-7 at first, and then maintained a 7-point advantage until the end of the game, entering the final four in style.
A Championship win would be a nice comeback for the duo after a disappointing early-round exit from the All England Championship.
