Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Chirag Shetty Stun World No.1 Pair Clinch Maiden Korea Open Title

This is the third Super 500 title for Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty so far after Thailand Open 2019 and India Open 2022.

Written by: India.com Sports Desk Edited by: Koushik Paul

Updated: July 23, 2023, 2:03 PM IST

Share

Share Article

• Facebook
• WhatsApp
• X
• Email
• Telegram
• Linkedin

https://www.india.com/sports/satwiksairaj-rankireddy-chirag-shetty-stun-world-no-1-pair-clinch-maiden-korea-open-title-6183155/ Copy

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty. (Image: BAI)

New Delhi: Asian champions Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty defeated world no. 1 Indonesian duo Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto in a thrilling three-game men’s doubles final 17-21, 21-13, 21-14 to clinch maiden Korea Open title on Sunday.

This is the third Super 500 title of their career so far after Thailand Open 2019 and India Open 2022 and third BWF World Tour title in 2023 as well, having previously won Swiss Open 2023 (Super 300) and Indonesia Open 2023 (Super 1000) earlier this year.

Satwik-Chirag win their 3️⃣rd #BWFWorldTour Super 500 title

: @badmintonphoto @himantabiswa | @sanjay091968 | @lakhaniarun1 #KoreaOpen2023#IndiaontheRise#Badminton pic.twitter.com/t0osXuHCFS

— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) July 23, 2023

Earlier, the Commonwealth Games gold medalist pair stormed into the final after defeating China’s Liang Wie Keng and Wang Chang 21-15, 24-22 in the semifinals on Saturday. The Indian combination came back from a game down to beat top seeds Alfian and Adrianto in just over an hour

Former world champion PV Sindhu is the only other Indian to clinch the Korea Open title when she defeated Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara back in 2017. But the chances of Satwik and Chirag adding another title to their trophy cabinet looked difficult in the opening game when the Indonesians opened up a 10-3 lead and then extended the advantage 19-10.

This was when the Indians changed tactics, went for attacking shots and won six consecutive points to close the gap. Alfian and Ardianto managed to stave them off but the momentum was well and truly with the eventual champions by then. Satwik and Chirag then kept on the pressure by taking the shuttle early and not allowing their opponents control the pace of the rallies and force the decider.

The third and final game was a much tighter contest during the first half as the Indonesians mixed things up. However, the Indians were prepared to stick to their game plan of attacking the shuttle ahead of them and looked pretty comfortable by the time the players changed ends at 11-8 and wrapped up the match in an hour and two minutes.

The title triumph wants the Indian combination would earn 9200 BWF World Ranking points and take home a prize purse of USD 33180 (approx. Rs 27 lakh).