Bangkok [Thailand]: Asian Games gold medallist pair Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy emerged triumphant in the men's doubles title at the Thailand Open Super 500 badminton on Sunday.
With the Paris Olympics approaching, the Indian shuttler duo of Chirag and Satwiksairaj got a major boost in their quest for a medal. They defeated China's Chen Bo Yang and Liu Yi in straight sets to bag another title in their trophy cabinet.
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The world number three edged past Chen and Yi with a 21-15 21-15 victory and clinched their ninth BWF world tour title. This is their second title of the year after they won the French Open in March.
The top-seeded pair raced to an early 5-1 lead but Chen and Yi bounced back to make it level at 7-7. Following a couple of remarkable rallies, Satwik and Chirag found themselves trailing by 10-7.
The intense rallies continued but this time the India duo mostly walked out with a point. Chirag pulled out a sensational stroke to level the game at 10-10.
From that point, the Indian duo levelled up their game and took a 14-11 lead. Satwik and Chirag kept their opposition on their heels and sealed the first set with a 21-15 win.
In the second set, the Indian pair started on a dominant foot and raced to an 8-3 lead. The five-point lead stayed for a while but Chen and Yi fought back with three consecutive points. Chirag and Satwik managed to break their streak and made the scoreline 15-11.
Chirag and Satwik lost their control following a couple of errors which allowed their opposition to reduce the deficit to just a single point.
The Indian duo bounced back to extend their lead. Satwik pulled off some hard-hitting smashes to seal the game with a 21-15 win.
"Thailand Open has been a special tournament for us as we won our first Super 500 crown here and have won many more tournaments thereafter. We are hoping that this victory will start another winning run for us," said Satwik after clinching the crown as quoted from BAI.
Speaking about their performance in the final, Satwik said they played their best game against their Chinese opponents.
"We knew that we cannot relax even for a single point against our opponents as they fight till the end. But we played our best game of the tournament today and controlled the situation very well," he added.
—ANI