File image of Satwik-Chirag in action (BAI)
Thailand Open 2024, Men’s Doubles Final Badminton Live: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty easily defeated Lu Ming-Che and Tang Kai-Wei of Chinese Taipei 21-11 21-12 on Saturday to enter the final of the Thailand Open. It’s a tournament that has a special place in the careers of Satwik and Chirag as they won the title in 2019 for their first Superseries / Super 500 level victory.
In Sunday’s summit clash, the duo will lock horns against the Chinese pair of Chen Bo Yang and Liu Yi, who defeated Kim Gi Jung and Kim Sa Rang of South Korea 21-19 21-18 in the other semifinal on Saturday.
The the world number three Indian pair, who are also the top seeds in this tournament, needed just 35 minutes to beat their world No. 80 opponents on Saturday.
In contrast to their thrilling run in 2019, however, it’s been smooth sailing this week. The pairs they have beaten so far, without dropping a game of course, are ranked 71, 69, 64 and 80 in the world. The most points they have conceded in a game has been 16.
Read more about their run so far here.
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Thailand Open Final live: Catch all the action from Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty vs Chen Bo Yang/Liu Yi match from Thailand.
On Saturday, they produced a dominant performance against Ming Che Lu/Kai Wei Tang of Chinese Taipei 21-11, 21-12 in the men’s doubles semifinal. (BWF/Badminton Photo)
Thailand Open: Satwik-Chirag seek that familiar feeling of winning as they reach another final in Bangkok
Potentially, the world No 1 ranking is in sight once again for Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, but at this point on the men’s doubles circuit, it’s a game of musical chairs. It’s changing frequently enough for it to not matter as much in the bigger picture. In the here and now, what matters is good rhythm in the lead-up to the Paris Olympics. The warm fuzzy feeling that comes with winning matches consistently.
During the Thomas Cup title defence recently, that feeling went missing for Satwik-Chirag. In what has otherwise been a fine season, they struggled for rhythm in Chengdu. And that is why reaching the final of the Thailand Open will be a timely boost. On Saturday, they produced a dominant performance against Ming Che Lu/Kai Wei Tang of Chinese Taipei 21-11, 21-12 in the men’s doubles semifinal. The World No. 3 duo will face China’s Chen Bo Yang/Liu Yi in the final on Sunday, who are ranked 29 in the world.
“Overall a good tournament for us, we didn’t hit our 100% at the last tournament,” Satwik told BWF later. “We are really happy with the way we have played. We wanted to play as many matches as possible to get that rhythm back. We always love playing in Thailand. It’s a special bond. We won our first medal (Superseries / Super 500+ level) here in 2019, we won Thomas Cup here.” (READ MORE)
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First uploaded on: 19-05-2024 at 10:05 IST
