Satwik-Chirag Reach Doubles Final At China Masters After Beating Chinese Pair In Straight Games

Indian men's doubles shuttler duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty beat the Chinese pair of He Ting and Ren Yu in straight games to move into the finals of the China Masters. It seemed like an easy victory for Satwik and Chirag at first where they dominated the first game throughout to win 21-15, but the Chinese pair hit back with some impressive shots and kept the Indian pair at bay in the second game.

This was the first time that Satwik and Chirag were playing the Chinese duo. They were at their attacking best in the first game of the match, leading from the beginning. At the interval, they led 11-6 and kept things clinical till the very end of the first game. The only points that they gave away were through unforced errors.

The second game was much closer, with the Chinese shuttlers keeping things steady. Satwik and Chirag's aggressive approach went against them and they trailed 8-11 at the interval of the second game.

Former Indian shuttler Pullela Gopichand, who is travelling with Satwik and Chirag as coach in the tournament in the absence of Mathias Boe, spoke to them at the interval and asked them to slow down their returns at the net. The step worked and the duo were able to level at 14-all.

The Chinese duo saved their best for the last and showed strong defence against the attacking Satwik and Chirag. They were able to drag the game on but gave up at 22-20 in a 50-minute-long encounter.

The Indians will next play second-seeded Chinese pair of Liang Keng and Wang Chang. With the victory over the Chinese pair, the Indian duo entered their sixth final of the year and will look to finish the year on a high with their sixth title.

Satwik and Chirag have won the Badminton Asian Championships, Indonesia Super 1000, Korea Super 500, Swiss Super 300 and the Asian Games gold medal in what has been a brilliant run.