India’s star duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty entered into the men's doubles final of the Indonesia Open World Tour Super 1000 event after sealing a victory in their semi-final match on Saturday in Jakarta. The seventh-seeded Indian pair locked horns for one hour and seven minutes to beat the Korean pair of Kang Min Hyuk and Seo Seung Jae 17-21, 21-19, 21-18 in a thrilling semi-final.
Satwiksairaj and Chirag also became the first Indian pair to enter the final of any Super 1000 tournament as they registered a brilliant comeback and outplayed the Korean pair.
On Friday, the 2022 World Championships bronze medallists outclassed the top seed Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto in straight sets, storming into the men's doubles semifinals of the Indonesia Open. In the early hours of the game, it was the Korean pair who surged ahead to 6-3. After they conceded the lead, the Indian duo had no option so they played catch-up badminton in the rest of the first game. The Indians then showed aggressive play and as a result, they reduced the margin to 15-19 and then 17-20 before Kang and Seo kept their composure to pocket the first game.
Satwik and Chirag, who are standing at the sixth rank in the world, will now be facing the winner of the other semifinal between Indonesia’s Pramudya Kusumawardana and Yeremia Erich Yoche Yacob Rambitan and second seeds Aaron Chia and Wooi Yik Soh of Malaysia in their maiden World Tour Super 1000 final.
The Koreans tried hard to bounce back and at one time levelled the scores at 16-16 but that is when Satwik and Chirag put their foot on the accelerator and relied on their aggressive play to keep their nose ahead and finally closed out the game and the match.
The BWF World Tour is divided into six levels, namely World Tour Finals, four Super 1000, six Super 750, seven Super 500, and 11 Super 300 in order. One other category of tournament, the BWF Tour Super 100 level, also offers ranking points.
(With PTI Inputs)