Hangzhou Asian Games | Satwik-Chirag enter final, keep first-ever gold medal hopes alive

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty during their men’s doubles semifinal badminton match against Malaysia’s Aaron Chia Teng Fong and Soh Wooi Yik at the 19th Asian Games, in Hangzhou, on October 6, 2023.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Star men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty dished out a badminton master-class to storm into the final and inch closer to India’s first-ever badminton gold at the Asian Games in Hangzhou on October 6.

The world No.3 pair, which was part of the silver-medal winning Indian men’s team last week, produced a sensational show to outclass Malaysia’s Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik, Tokyo bronze medallists and former world champions, 21-17, 21-12 in 46 minutes of dominance.

The Indian pair thus became the first Indian men’s doubles pair to assure of a silver at the Asian Games.

Satwik and Chirag, the reigning Commonwealth Games gold medallists, will face Korea’s Choi Sol Gyu and Kim Won Ho in the final on Saturday.

While the two sent down their booming smashes whenever there was an opportunity, Satwik and Chirag were also good with their angles and placement.

The two pairs fought tooth and nail from the first point to 10-10 before Satwik produced a smash to take a one-point lead at the break.

On resumption, the Indian pair showed better anticipation and quickly extended their lead to 16-10 before grabbing six game points.

A service error from the Indians and then a deceptive stroke from Soh helped Malaysia save three game points before Aaron sent his forehand into the net.

The Indians came out all guns blazing with the pair mixing defence and attack seamlessly to zoom to 11-3 at the interval.

The two showed great coordination, moving smoothly back and forth with Satwik displaying his superb defence and Chirag complementing him.

Satwik and Chirag kept dominating the rallies with their anticipation and interceptions and grabbed 10 match points after winning a net duel, and converted in the third attempt.