Satwik-Chirag loses India Open final, wins silver medal; Shi Yu Qi Bags Singles Gold
Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy lost in a hard-fought final to reigning world champions Kang Min Hyuk and Seo Seung Jae of Korea
New Delhi: India's top men's doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy lost in a hard-fought final to reigning world champions Kang Min Hyuk and Seo Seung Jae of Korea to finish second in the India Open 2024 badminton tournament on Sunday.
Asian Games gold medalists Shetty and Rankireddy were the only Indian finalists on the final day of the BWF World Tour Super 750 event, claiming the sole medal for the hosts of the event. Kang Min Hyuk and Seo Seung Jae of Korea won 15-21, 21-11, 21-18 to reach the men's doubles final at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium.
Reflecting on the result, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy said: “We started quite well in the first game, but in the second we couldn't really get off to a good start and before long we were 11-5 down. From then on it was quite difficult to come back and yes, they (Kang and Seo) were quite a formidable defensive pair.
“Overall we are sad because we lost the final of our home tournament, but there are a lot of positives: the last two weeks have been very good. We are still hungry and not satisfied. We will start again in the coming days for All England and French Open,” he said.
Earlier, China's Shi Yu Qi ended his two-year wait for a title when he ended Hong Kong's Lee Cheuk Yiu's dream run 23-21, 21-17 in the men's singles final.
“This victory in 2024 has enormous significance for my career. Considering the prestigious nature of this tournament and the fact that it took place in India, this is a stroke of luck for me. There were many challenging moments and difficulties, but my team's unwavering support is an important catalyst for my victory,” Shi Yu Qi said of the fame of his victory on Sunday.
Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei captured the women's singles crown with a 21-16, 21-12 victory over Chen Yu Fei of China (21-16, 21-12) .
“I was a little nervous, but while playing I got a lot of support from the crowd, so I played well in today's match. After the quarter-finals there was very little time for practice and preparation, so I didn't have much of that. All cases were resolved in the court itself,” said Tai Tzu Ying after her victory.
Japan's Mayu Matsumoto and Wakana Nagahara were crowned women's doubles champions after beating China's Zhang Shu with a 21-16, 21-16 win over the No. 5 Chinese pairing of Jiang Zhen Bang and Wei Ya Xin.
But it was the men's doubles final that kept everyone on edge as the match went both ways.
The second-seeded Indians, who won the title in 2021, started the match on an offensive note. Chirag and Satwik played with the wind, outplaying their opponents in flat exchanges. Although the Koreans managed to keep pace with them at 7-7, the Indians slowly but surely pulled away, with Chirag dominating the net exchanges to take home the opening match.
In the second inning, the tables were turned as the Indians made quite a few mistakes attacking serve and quickly fell behind 1-5.
The left-handed Seo managed to leave Chirag and Satwik flying with flying colors on a couple of occasions with his deceptive cross-court drives as the Koreans took nine straight points from 7-5 and then kept that momentum going to force the decider.
In the final match, the Koreans were again quick to get off the block and eventually took an 11-6 lead. This is when the Indians started their counterattack, with Chirag once again attacking the net with much more precision.
The Indians, who finished second at the Malaysia Open last week, managed to close the gap to 18-19 and hoped for another win over the world champions. But Seo's cross-court push to Satwik's forehand helped the Koreans earn their first match point and they made no mistake in finishing the first attempt.
“In the beginning we were not up to speed, but later we worked on our action and attacking parts, which eventually led to our victory. The crowd cheering didn't make us nervous because we've played in similar situations before and we have plenty of experience playing in similar environments. The opponent also had good attacking skills, so we played point by point and made sure not to get nervous,” Kang Min Hyuk and Seo Seung Jae said after the final.
With a prize pool of USD 850,000, the India Open 2024 witnessed the participation of 247 shuttlers from 23 countries who enchanted the fans with their captivating performances.