Satwik-Chirag created history by reaching the finals of Badminton Asia
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty became the first Indian men’s doubles pair to reach the final of the Badminton Asia Championships. This Indian pair easily made it to the finals after their rival pair got out of the way in the semi-final match played on Saturday. After winning the first game, Satwik and Chirag were trailing 13-14 in the second game when the Chinese Taipei pair of Li Yang and Wang Chi-Lin decided to withdraw from the match.
In Sunday’s final, they will face eighth seeds Malaysian pair of Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yee, who defeated fourth seeds Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi of Japan 21-6, 26-24 in the other semi-final. . Satwik and Chirag had earlier scripted history by defeating the experienced Indonesian pair of Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan 21-11 21-12 in the quarterfinals on Friday. This is the first time in the 52-year history of the competition that an Indian men’s doubles pair has assured a medal. India’s dominance in the tournament rests on Satwik and Chirag as PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy failed to progress past the quarterfinals in singles.
