A Korean thriller: Satwik-Chirag rally into final

Yeosu (South Korea), July 22

Star Indian pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty entered the final of the Korea Open Super 500 with a thrilling straight-game win over world No. 2 Chinese pair of Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang here today.

The world No. 3 Indian pair notched up a 21-15 24-22 win over the second-seeded Chinese in a 40-minute duel at the Jinnam stadium. It was Satwiksairaj and Chirag’s first win over the Chinese pair following two earlier defeats.

“It feels really good to play another final. Since that first-round loss in Singapore Open, we had this in our mind that we need to go out and give 100 per cent. Winning or losing is part of the game but we didn’t want to come out of the court thinking that we didn’t give our best, that has been our aim,” Chirag said after the match.

The Chinese, who have won the Thailand and India Open this year, came into the match with a 2-0 head-to-head record but it was a different day as the Indians produced a fine show to reach their second successive final, having won the Indonesia Open Super 100 in their last tournament in June.

Satwiksairaj and Chirag, who have also won the Swiss Open Super 500 in March, will be up against top seeds Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto of Indonesia in the summit clash.