Thailand Open: Satwiksairaj, Chirag pair reaches final
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Bangkok: Indian star badminton doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty reached the final of the Thailand Open badminton tournament after a cake-walk victory over Chinese Taipei’s Lu Ming-Che and Tang Kai-Wei on Saturday. The Asian Games gold-winning duo finished the game in just 35 minutes in their semis battle, beating World No. 80 opponents 21-11 21-12 of the Super 500 tournament at the Nimibutr Stadium, PTI reported.
On Saturday, Satwik and Chirag were not really tested by Lu and Tang, who played well only in patches but lacked the aggression and accuracy to trouble the Indians, who were a cut above their rivals.
It was in 2019 that the pair won their maiden Super 500 crown.
The Indian pair thus continued to make waves in the BWF World Tour after progressing to their fourth final of the season. The duo had finished runner-up at the Malaysia Super 1000 and India Super 750 before claiming the French Super 750 in March.
In the final on Sunday, the world number three Indian duo, the top seeds in this tournament, will be up against the Chinese pair of Chen Bo Yang and Liu Yi, who defeated Kim Gi Jung and Kim Sa Rang of South Korea 21-19 21-18 in the other semifinal on Saturday.
Satwik and Chirag had some low returns in the last couple of tournaments. The Indian pair lost in the second round at the All England Championships and then missed the Asia Championships due to an injury to Satwik. The Thomas Cup campaign was also not too fruitful, as they lost a couple of narrow matches to top pairs. The final appearance will thus provide a major boost ahead of the Paris Olympics.