Second coming

Bangkok, May 19

In a confidence-boosting performance ahead of the Paris Olympics, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty today won the Thailand Open Super 500 badminton tournament with a straight-game win over Chen Bo Yang and Liu Yi.

It has been a lucky tournament for us. The journey started from here. We won this title in 2019. We went on to win many tournaments. — Satwiksairaj Rankireddy

The world No. 3 pair prevailed 21-15 21-15 over the Chinese, ranked 29th, for their ninth BWF world tour title in men’s doubles. It was also the second title of the season for the Asian Games champions following their triumph at the French Open Super 750 in March.

“It has been a lucky tournament for us. The journey started from here. We won this title in 2019. We went on to win many tournaments,” Satwiksairaj said. “They keep on playing fast and we knew we couldn’t relax. Overall, I think it’s the best match we played throughout the tournament. We kept everything calm and under control. So really happy,” he added.

The title comes at a crucial juncture as the Indian duo had had some low returns in the last couple of tournaments. They lost in the second round at the All England Championships and then missed the Asia Championships due to an injury to Satwiksairaj. The Thomas Cup was also not too fruitful as they lost a couple of narrow matches to top pairs.

Satwiksairaj and Chirag had come into the Thailand Open final without dropping a game and were favourites to claim the title. But Liu and Chen had also produced some stunning wins in the run-up to the summit clash and had the reputation of never losing a final.

However, the top-seeded Indians didn’t allow the Chinese to get into long rallies or sustain any pressure. Satwiksairaj and Chirag made a superb start by quickly opening up a 5-1 lead. But Chen and Liu clawed back. At 7-7, the Chinese pair won a 39-shot rally and surged ahead to 10-7. After the break, Satwiksairaj and Chirag turned the tables, moving to 16-12. They grabbed five game points and Satwiksairaj sealed the game with a superb service which the Chinese could only bury into the net.

The Indians made a solid 8-3 start after the change of sides and maintained the five-point cushion at the interval. At 15-11, Satwiksairaj received a warning for delaying the game and Chen and Liu moved to 14-15.

But the Indians dashed any hopes of a fightback, with Chirag setting up a point with his fine placement and Satwiksairaj providing the finishing touch as they moved to 17-15. Satwiksairaj then unleashed a barrage of smashes to grab five match points. They sealed the match after the Chinese sent Chirag’s smash into the net. Satwiksairaj broke into a dance, while Chirag threw his shirt into the crowd.

Chirag hoped the win would spur youngsters to put in the hard yards and dream big. “Not just the men’s doubles, doubles in general, I know such wins give a lot of boost to youngsters back home, to push themselves and not be satisfied,” Chirag said. “A lot of people thought the Chinese or Indonesians are notches above us but the way we have been playing the last couple of years, it definitely gives the youngsters a chance to rethink and beat the best players in the world.”