Picture Credit: Twitter
Indian ace men’s doubles shuttler duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty advanced to the final of Korea Open 2023 . The pair defeated world number 2 and 2021 champion duo Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang of China 21-15, 24-22 in a thrilling semi-final clash that went on for 40 minutes. This win of Satwik-Chirag marks their first victory over the Chinese rivals following two defeats at Malaysia Open and All England Open Badminton Championship held earlier this year.
The world number 3 pair will now lock horns with the winners of other semi-finals between South Korea’s Seung-jae Seo and Min-hyuk Kang or Indonesia’s Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto.The semifinal clash between Sat-Chi and Weikeng-Chang started off on an intense level. Both the sides levelled till 7-7, when the Indian shuttlers pulled away for a lead and soon got the lead of 14-8.
The duo maintained their momentum throughout the first game and got a comfortable win only to come up against a tougher game in the second game. After trailing at 14-9, the Chinese duo made a strong comeback and levelled the score at 19-19. But, the Indian pair raised their game and finished off the game soon in their favour.
Satwik-Chirag have already won the Swiss Open, Indonesian Open and gold medal at the Asian Championship this year.
