Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty ended a wait of 58 years to win the men’s doubles gold for India at the Asian Badminton Championships. The World Championship 2022 bronze medalist pair made a stunning comeback after losing the first game to see off Malaysia’s Ong Yew Sin and Teo E Yee 16. 21, 21. 17, 21. 19 beat. Earlier, only Dinesh Khanna had won gold for India in this championship when he defeated Thailand’s Sangob Rattanusorn in the men’s singles final in Lucknow in 1965.
Prior to this, the best performance of the Indian men’s doubles team in this championship has been a bronze medal, which was won by Dipu Ghosh and Raman Ghosh in 1971. Satwik and Chirag, who won the Swiss Open Super 300 title in Basel, did not give up despite losing the first game and won 7. 13 to and 11 in the third game. Came back after trailing by 15. This is the second title of the season for this pair. He won five career titles last year at the Commonwealth Games and on the BWF Tour. Chirag said, “I am on cloud nine. Me and Satwik had worked hard for this medal. I am happy that we won the title. I would like to thank everyone who encouraged us.
Satwik said, “It feels good to win this tournament for the first time. I am sure will win more titles in future. Will keep working hard to make India proud. 22 year old Satwik from Amalapuram and 25 year old Chirag from Mumbai showed very aggressive game. The first game was a draw in which the Malaysian pair prevailed. In the second game too, the Malaysian pair took the lead. 8. The Indian pair fought back from 13 down. On Teo’s mistake, Satwik turned the match around with a powerful backhand smash. The Indian pair scored 18. Made a lead of 15. After this, the match was drawn in the deciding game by taking three points. The technical prowess of the Malaysian pair was commendable in the deciding game as they scored 11. Made a lead of 8 as well. The Indian pair made a difference of 14. Did 15 and then 17. Got ahead of 16. Chirag’s smashes on the backhand sealed the match for the Indian pair.
