Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, India’s top men’s doubles pair, made history by entering the final of the Badminton Asia Championships. They are the first Indian duo to reach the finals since Dinesh Khanna in singles in 1965. Satwik and Chirag secured their spot in the summit clash after their opponents, the Tokyo Olympic champions Chinese Taipei’s Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin, retired midway through the second game of their semifinal clash.
The Indian duo won the first game 21-18 and were going neck-and-neck with their Chinese Taipei opponents at 13-14 when Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin withdrew, giving them a walkover. Chirag and Satwik are the lone Indians remaining in the fray in the Asian Championships after their compatriots P.V. Sindhu, H.S. Prannoy, and Kidambi Srikanth lost in earlier stages in their respective sections.
India has won only one gold in the Asian Championships since it was initiated in 1962 – the gold won by Dinesh Khanna in men’s singles in 1965. Satwik and Chirag will be hoping to bag the second gold for India in this mega event. Whatever medal they win on Sunday will be the biggest medal in their career. The Indian duo have won five titles on the BWF World Tour and have twice finished runners-up.
