BWF World Championships: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty go down with a maiden bronze medal

Tokyo: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty capped off a memorable BWF World Championships campaign with a historic bronze medal on Saturday. The Indian pairing went down narrowly to Malaysia’s Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik in the men’s doubles semifinals.

The World No 7 Indian pairing, who had won the Commonwealth Games gold earlier this month and played a decisive role in Thomas Cup title win , squandered an opening game advantage to go down 22-20, 18-21, 16-21 in a pulsating and nerve-wracking hour and 17 minute clash.

Satwik-Chirag’s loss ended India’s challenge at the prestigious tournament.

READ | Satwik, Chirag rue ‘unlucky situations’ after narrow loss

It was the sixth successive defeat against the Malaysian pair for Satwik and Chirag, who had lost to them at the mixed team final of the Commonwealth Games earlier this month.

What a match 👀 Chia and Soh 🇲🇾 through to the big one.#BWFWorldChampionships #Tokyo2022 pic.twitter.com/csCEJcYrnd

— BWF (@bwfmedia) August 27, 2022

Despite the loss, it was a creditable show by the young Indian pair as they ensured India continued their medal run at the World Championships.

India have won a medal at each edition since 2011, the year the country won their first doubles medal with Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa returning with a bronze in women’s doubles.

Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik keep calm after prevailing in a three game semi-finals thriller. 🇲🇾

They will face the 'Daddies' from Indonesia tomorrow - Mohammad Ahsan/Hendra Setiawan.

Hit link in video for all updates from Day 6 at #Tokyo2022.#BWFWorldChampionships | @bwfmedia pic.twitter.com/YPjPQDNWrz

— The Olympic Games (@Olympics) August 27, 2022

In the clash, Chirag looked off-colour with his serve and defence, while Satwik tried his best to make up for it but in the end the Malaysians proved to be a tad faster and more subtle in their strokeplay in a match that went down to the wire.

Coming into the match with a 0-5 head-to-head record, the Indians showed alertness and didn’t allow their opponents to play their game. They used the smashes judiciously to quickly move to a 11-5 lead at the interval.

Leading 11-7, Satwik showed great defence in a fast-paced rally which ended with the Malaysian hitting long.

The Malaysians made a comeback after the break, closing in at 11-12 with the Indians missing their mark a few times.

They soon drew level at 16-16 with Soh unleashing a powerful smash and then grabbed a 18-17 lead.

However, Satwik and Chirag moved back to lead at 19-18 with Aaron sending one to net and then Chirag pouncing on an opportunity.

Congratulations @satwik_rankireddy @chiragshetty for winning the first men’s doubles🥉 for India at the World Championships 🇮🇳 💪 pic.twitter.com/Vy3mQsRVeG

— Ashwini Ponnappa (@P9Ashwini) August 27, 2022

Another attacking rally put India one point away but Chirag faltered in a net shot as it was 20-20. Chirag earned another game point and this time Aaron missed the line to hand over the opening game to the Indians.

After the change of sides, Aaron and Soh emerged as the better players as Chirag looked a little subdued. The Indians still managed to keep breathing down their opponent’s neck before an error from Chirag gave a slender one-point advantage to the Malaysian at the break.

Playing below the tape level, Chirag found the net twice, while another one went long as Malaysia established a decisive 16-11 lead. A solid service return from Soh gave them three game points.

They squandered one but with Chirag losing his racquet string, Satwik couldn’t negotiate the Malaysian attack as the match was levelled 1-1.

The decider was a tight affair as Satwik and Chirag tried to attack Soh but with Chirag going wide the Malaysian led 5-3 at one stage.

👉 Newly minted World Championships Bronze medalists
👉 1st ever 🇮🇳 Men's Doubles pair to be ranked inside Top 10
👉 Part of Gold medal winning Indian team at Thomas Cup
👉 CWG Gold medalists
👉 Have beaten reigning World & Olympic Champions ✨ Proud of you Satwik & Chirag pic.twitter.com/DlLrRYZAEF

— India_AllSports (@India_AllSports) August 27, 2022

A push and block strategy from Satwik saw India manage a 6-5 lead as Chirag was all charged up.

However, Malaysia eked out a 10-8 lead before taking a one-point cushion in the final mid-game interval.

Aaron and Soh dominated the fast-paced rallies after the break to lead 13-11 but Satwik unleashed his trademark booming smash to keep it close.

Chirag produced a backhand whip near the net to make it 13-14 before a misjudgement from Soh at the baseline saw the Indians keep the equation to 15-16.

However, Malaysia soon pulled away and once Chirag put another one at the net, Aaron and Soh had four match points.

A serve return going into the net from Satwik ended the contest.

Since 2011, India’s medal winners at World Championships have been: PV Sindhu (gold in 2019, silver in 2017 and 2018, bronze in 2013 and 2014), Saina Nehwal (silver in 2015, bronze in 2017), B Sai Praneeth (bronze in 2019), Kidambi Srikanth (silver in 2021), Lakshya Sen (bronze in 2021). Now, Satwik-Chirag won India’s first medal in men’s doubles at the event.

(with inputs from PTI)

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