India Open badminton: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty, Tai Tzu Ying highlight finals day

The men’s doubles pairing of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will expectedly draw the biggest ovation and plenty of noise when they take court on Sunday in the final of the India Open, a BWF Super 750 tournament. They are scheduled last on the court against Min Hyuk Kang and Seung Jae Seo. Satwik-Chirag started the season with a foray into the final of the Malaysia Open and they’d be eager to lay their hands on the gold medal this time around. In the semi-finals they clinched a straight games win over Tokyo Olympics bronze medallists Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik of Malaysia. ‘SaChi’, as they are nicknamed, showed nerves of steel as they kept sustained pressure on Aaron and Soh, the 2022 World champions, to eke out a 21-18, 21-14 win.

Satwik danced as Chirag jumped into his arms as the duo celebrated after winning 11 of the last 12 points in the match to emerge victorious. It was only their third win against the Malaysian combination. India will be devoid of further local representation after HS Prannoy was completely outplayed by World No 2 Shi Yu Qi of China 21-15, 21-5 in the men’s singles semi-finals. “I think the first game was quite poised but I gave 2-3 points in the end. I was not able to move well in the second game. All credit to him, he has some good shots. Happy that could reach semifinals but still a lot work need to be done to go on and win tournaments,” said Prannoy. “It’s better not to analyse too much now. It is a learning lesson. Hope I can do better next time.” In the final, Shi Yu Qi will face Hong Kong’s Lee Cheuk Yiu, who stunned World Championships silver medallist Kodai Naraoka of Japan 21-13, 15-21, 21-19 to qualify for his first Super 750 men’s singles final. In women’s singles, China’s Chen Yu Fei overcame compatriot Wang Zhi Yi in straight games to set up a final against Chinese Taipei’s Tai Tzu Ying in a rematch of the Tokyo Olympics summit clash. Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Chen Yu Fei beat Wang Zhi Yi 21-13, 21-18 in the semi-final, while Tai Tzu Ying progressed to her second successive women’s singles final of the season with a 21-13, 21-18 win over World No. 20 Yeo Jia Min. India Open Badminton finals (order of play) Mixed doubles: Zhen Bang Jiang/Ya Xin Wei vs Dechapol Puavaranukroh/Sapsiree Taerattanachai Women’s singles: Tai Tzu Ying vs Chen Yu Fei Women’s doubles: Shu Xian Zhang/Yu Zheng vs Mayu Matsumoto/Wakana Nagahara Men’s singles: Yu Qi Shi vs Cheuk Yiu Lee Men’s doubles: Min Hyuk Kang and Seung Jae Seo Where is the India Open 2024 being played? India Open badminton is being held at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall in New Delhi. What time will India Open finals begin? Play will commence at 12 PM in the India Open badminton. All matches will take place on one court, one-after-another. Where to watch India Open badminton tournament? India Open 2024 will be telecast live on Sports18 (on TV) and will be live streamed on JioCinema (app and website).