Satwiksairaj and Chirag hope Thailand Open win will start another winning run

Indian badminton doubles mainstays Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty won their second Thailand Open Super 500 tournament title on Sunday. Both Satwiksairaj and Chirag were at their best, as the Indians did not drop a single game during the entire tournament.

Satwiksairaj and Chirag beat China’s Chen Bo Yang and Liu Yi 21-15, 21-15 in just 46 minutes to pocket the title.

Satwiksairaj said the Thailand Open was a special tournament for the duo as it was their first Super 500 tournament title together and the pair reached greater heights in the game after winning the title, including becoming World No. 1.

“(The) Thailand Open has been a special tournament for us as we won our first Super 500 crown here and have won many more tournaments thereafter. We are hoping that this victory will start another winning run for us,” Satwiksairaj said after the win.

The first time the duo won was in 2019.

Currently ranked World No. 3, the Indians rarely looked under pressure against their opponents throughout the tournament. Satwiksairaj and Chirag showed the same domination in the final, as they were aggressive from the word go and brought out their best game.

The Indian pair started by opening up a 5-1 lead before the Chinese had their best phase of the summit clash as they won nine of the next 11 points. But Chirag and Satwiksairaj wrested control with some aggressive play and packed the opening game rather easily.

The eventual champions always had the upper hand in the second game and just like the first, they won five consecutive points at the end to kick off their trademark celebrations.

Speaking about their performance in the final, Satwiksairaj said they played their best game against their Chinese opponents. “We knew that we cannot relax even for a single point against our opponents, as they fight till the end. But we played our best game of the tournament today and controlled the situation very well,” he concluded.

The title win meant the Indian players have accumulated 9,200 ranking points and a prize purse of $33180 (approx. INR 27,63,306.40).