India's Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have won the men's doubles title at the Thailand Open Super 500 badminton tournament. The world No. 1 defeated the Chinese pair of Chen Bo Yang and Liu Yi 21-15, 21-15 to clinch yet another silverware. (More Badminton News)
“So happy to win back in Thailand. We won our first Super series here as well as the Thomas Cup,” said the pair in the post-match interview.
The Indian duo, who would be India's best shot at medal contention at Paris Olympics, had clinched their maiden Super 500 title back in 2019 in the same land of Thailand.
In 2024, Satwik and Chirag have shone brightly, emerging as one of the most formidable contenders in the badminton world. They ended up as runners-up at the Malaysia Super 1000 and India Super 750 events, but remained determined to claim victory on the global stage. True to their words, they fulfilled their commitment by securing championship title at the French Super 750.
Securing victory against the Chinese pair in the final round of the Thailand Open was not an easy task. In the first game, the World No.1 pair found themselves trailing 10-11. However, soon they took back the lead 12-11 at the mid-game interval. And from that point, the Indian duo maintained their momentum, extending their lead to 21-15 by the end of the first set.
In the second game, the Indian stars had the grip since the beginning, with a 5-point advantage in the first half and maintaining it till the end of the second, but not without hiccups. There was a moment when Chen-Leu rose to the opponent's challenge taking the lead by 1 point. However, mounting a comeback, Satwik-Chirag ended the game in just 46 minutes winning the round with the final score of 21-15.
The victory has propelled the Indian pair to reach the top of the BWF world ranking as they earned 9200 ranking points and prize purse of $33180 (approx. Rs 27,63,306.40).
