India’s star pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty suffered a heartbreaking defeat to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, in the men’s doubles semi-final of the Malaysia Open badminton tournament on Saturday. In the thrilling contest, the Chinese pair emerged victorious 21-16, 11-21 and 21-15.
The Indian pair gave a tough challenge to Liang and Wang in the first game but the latter bounced back in the final moments to clinch it 21-16.
Rankireddy and Shetty didn’t lose hope and bounced back emphatically in the second game and completely outclassed the Chinese duo 21-11. They didn’t give any chance to Lian and Wang to get much out of the second game.
The third and deciding game started on a very competitive note where both tried to prove their supremacy over each other. It witnessed a breathtaking rally with 29 shots to grab the second point for both sides which the Indian pair eventually won. The two pairs produced some thrilling action in the final game as the scoreline was neck-to-neck for almost the majority of it.
However, in the second half of third game, the Chinese pair brought a little more intensity to their game which was a bit too much for Satwik and Chirag to handle as they clinched it 21-15 to seal a place in final.
Wang and Liang extended the lead to 14-10 before Satwik unleashed a booming smash, but it was negated by a wide shot. The Chinese committed three service errors, but also produced few quick points, with Liang producing a cross court return to make it 19-14.
A long shot from Chirag handed their rivals five match points. A flurry of smashes from Liang then sealed the final place for the Chinese pair in their first ever super 1000 tournament.
Earlier, Satwik and Chirag played their hearts out to beat BWF World Tour Finals champions Liu Yu Chen and Ou Xuan Yi in the last four.
The Indian pair, seeded seventh, toiled to get the better of the Chinese duo 17-21, 22-20, 21-9 in the men’s doubles quarter-finals.
Satwik and Chirag had a memorable last year when they won two World Tour titles that included India Open Super 500 and French Open Super 750. Besides that, they won the CWG gold medal, played a vital role in guiding India to title win in Thomas Cup and took bronze in the World Championships.
World championships bronze medallists Satwik and Chirag will be in action at next week’s India Open Super 750 tournament in New Delhi.
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