Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty’s quest to become the first ever men’s doubles pair from India to reach the finals of the Badminton World Championships fell short as they lost to Chinese pair of Chen Bo Yang Liu Yi in the semifinals in Paris on August 30. Ninth seeds Satwik and Chirag suffered a 19-21, 21-18, 12-21 against China’s Chen Boyang and Liu Yi in the semifinal that lasted an hour.
With Satwik-Chirag’s semifinal loss India’s campaign at the World Championships ended. Their run to the semifinals guaranteed them a bronze medal and ensured that India’s streak of winning at least one medal at every BWF World Championships since 2011 remained intact. This was the Indian’s first loss in two matches against the Chinese duo, having previously gotten the better of them in the final of the Thailand Open last year. It was also Satwik-Chirag’s fifth semi-final exit of the year after the Indian, Singapore, Malaysian and China Opens.
The Indian pair made a blistering start, racing to a 4-0 lead and heading into the mid-game interval with an 11-5 advantage. But the Chinese duo mounted a strong comeback after the break, edging ahead 14-13 before sealing the opener on their third game point. In the second game, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty again surged ahead 5-1, though their lead was trimmed to 11-9 at the interval.
