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Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty beat Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik to bag a BWF World Championships medal.
Satwik-Chirag have assured themselves of at least a bronze (Picture credit: AFP)
Star Indian men’s doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty on Friday (August 29) defeated the World No. 2 pair of Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik from Malaysia in the quarterfinals of the BWF World Championships to assure themselves and India of a medal at the prestigious event.
Satwik and Chirag had faced Chia and Soh in a quarterfinal encounter at the Paris Olympics 2024 at the same venue just over an year ago, but the Malaysians triumphed on that occasion, ending the Indians’ bid for an Olympic medal.
But Satwik and Chirag ensured there weren’t many hiccups this time and beat Chia and Soh 21-15, 21-19 at the Adidas Arena.
The win against the Malaysians thus assured the Indians of a second World Championship medal. Their first had come in 2022, when they lost in the semifinals to Chia and Soh.
On Saturday, August 30, Satwik and Chirag will take on the 11th-seeded pair of Chen Bo Yang and Liu Yi.
The Indians faced the Chinese pair once at the Thailand Open last year, where they registered a comfortable straight-game win.
Satwik-Chirag dominated early, capitalising on long rallies to race to an 11-6 lead and take the first game 21-15, as Chia and Soh looked rattled by the constant attack from the Indians.
In the second game, Satwik-Chirag dictated play, attacking and pushing Chia and Soh to defend from the back court, with the latter struggling on his backhand and hitting the net several times.
But Chia and Soh started to find their rhythm towards the back end of the second game, as they levelled at 19-all to put immense pressure on the Indians. But Satwik and Chirag held their nerves as a mistimed shot from their opponents handed them the big win.
Earlier on Friday, two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu’s quest for a sixth World Championships medal ended after losing a hard-fought three-game quarterfinal thriller to Indonesia’s Putri Kusuma Wardani.
Sindhu, the 2019 world champion and five-time medallist at the event, was eyeing a record sixth podium finish but faltered at the finishing line, losing 14-21, 21-13, 16-21 to ninth seed Wardani in a pulsating 64-minute contest.
The Indian mixed doubles pair of Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto also bowed out after losing 15-21, 13-21 to world No. 4 Malaysians Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei, ending India’s hopes of a maiden mixed doubles medal at the showpiece.
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