The leading Indian badminton pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty reached their second successive men’s doubles final with an impressive straight-game win over former world champions Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik of Malaysia at the China Masters Super 750 badminton tournament here on Saturday.
Soon after winning a World Championships bronze and finishing runners-up at the Hong Kong Open last week, the Asian Games champions outclassed their long-time rivals Aaron and Soh 21-17 21-14 in a dominating performance.
Satwik and Chirag came into the match with a 4-11 head-to-head record against the Malaysian pair, who are two-time Olympic medallists. The Indians had also recently got the better of Aaron and Soh in the course of their bronze medal win at the World Championships in Paris.
Also read: Satwik-Chirag reach semis, end of road for Sindhu
The Indians went all out in their attack right from the word go on Saturday, backed by a solid defence, while also dominating the front court as the Malaysians, particularly Aaron, looked out of sorts during the 41-minute semifinal clash.
The opening game was a close affair with both teams fighting for every point. Aaron and Soh got a 10-7 lead with four straight points, but three errors from Aaron, including a service fault, allowed Satwik and Chirag to bounce back. The Malaysians still held a slender one-point advantage at the interval.
At 14-13, Aaron faltered again at the net, giving the advantage again to the Indians. A flurry of smashes from Satwik and errors from their rivals took the Indians to 18-14. A sharp return from Satwik gave them four game points and they soon won the opener.
In the second game, Satwik and Chirag raced to a 5-2 lead after the change of ends with Satwik’s smashes and Chirag’s deft front-court play helping them stretch it to 8-2. Though the Malaysians narrowed the gap to 6-8, the Indians went into the interval with a 11-6 cushion.
Aaron and Soh reduced it to 9-11, but the Indians responded with another surge to make it 15-9. At 16-12, Satwik produced a thunderous smash followed by a lucky net cord, and the Malaysians lost their momentum. Chirag applied the finishing touches with a deep return and a decisive smash to seal the contest.
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