 "Korea Open: Satwik-Chirag enter semis, eye 1st Super 500 title this season")
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty of India continued their swan song in the Men’s Doubles badminton as they reached the last four of yet another tournament on the BWF World Tour.
Playing their first event since winning the Indonesia Open Super 1000 last month, the Indian duo beat Japan's Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi in the quarterfinal of the Korea Open Super 500 tournament. It took the third seeds only 40 minutes to dispatch their fifth seed opponents in straight games 21-14 21-17.
The Men’s Doubles pairing is the only representation left from India in the competition after the premature exits of fancied shuttlers like PV Sindhu, HS Prannoy, and Kidambi Srikanth.
The match was supposed to be a tight contest and it remained so for the first six points, but once Sat-Chi got ahead, they managed to keep their nose in front to bag the first game easily. In the second game, the Indians trailed 3-6 but lifted their spirits just in time to claw back and grab six consecutive points to lead 14-9.
The second game got close at 16-16, but having won close contests in the past helped the Indians to calm their nerves and enter the last-four stage of yet another tournament on the tour.
Courtesy of this win, the Indians, ranked third in the world will now face second seeds Wei Keng Liang and Chang Wang of China. The Chinese pair are 2021 World Champions and ranked second in the world currently.
How has the BWF World Tour 2023 been for Sat-Chi?
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This is the first tour in which the Indian pair have managed to reach the last four stages of four tournaments out of which two are of Super 1000 level.
Having reached the semi-final of the Malaysia Open Super 1000 in January this year, the Indian pairing, coached by legendary Mathias Boe of Denmark won the Swiss Open Super 300 in March. They lost their form a bit as they crashed out before the quarterfinal in three consecutive tournaments before finally grabbing the title in the Indonesia Open in June.
Currently ranked 12th on the tour, the ranking of the Indian pairing will improve immensely as they have reached the last four stages of a Super 500 tournament. But knowing Sat-Chi, they would not settle for anything less than the trophy to claim their first Super 500 title this season. The trophy would also boost their confidence for the upcoming Japan Open Super 750 tournament and the BWF World Championships.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty at the BWF World Tour 2023
The table shows the Indian pair's performance at all the BWF World Tour 2023 tournamnets that they have participated in before the start of the Korea Open 2023
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty at the BWF World Tour 2023
The table shows the Indian pair's performance at all the BWF World Tour 2023 tournamnets that they have participated in before the start of the Korea Open 2023
| Tournaments | Level | Position |
| Malaysia Open 2023 |
Source: Bwfworldtour.bwfbadminton.com
With inputs from PTI