Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty march into the final of the Korea Open

Satwik and Chirag have qualified for their fourth final this year and they have won all of the previous ones.

Combining awesome power-hitting with deft placement, the rising duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty demonstrated once again why they are the next big thing in the world of badminton. The Indian duo secured their first victory over China’s Liang Wei Keng-Wang Chang in three meetings, to win the Korea Open semifinals and make their way to the final of the competition.

The Indians will now come face-to-face with top ranked Fajar Alfian and Muhamad Rian Ardianto in the final – their fourth of the year after the Swiss Open, Asian Championships and Indonesia Open, all of which they have won.

Satwik and Chirag are currently ranked number 3 in the world and they are on a nine-match streak. They are also looking to win consecutive titles at Yeosu, Korea after the Super 1000 in Jakarta, Indonesia earlier.

They were up against resilient opponents in the semis and the Chinese have 27 wins from 34 matches this year including titles at Thailand and India Open, but had few answers to the Indian attack on the day.

The previous two matches at the All England Round 2 and Malaysian semifinals had gone to three sets but the Indians were absolutely dominant in their 21-15, 24-22 win in 40 minutes.

“It had been a close match at All England too (21-19 in the third), but Chirag-Satwik are a much improved pairing now, more matured,” said Pullela Gopichand who was in the coach’s chair on the day. “They are playing to each other’s strengths and hitting harder than anyone else,” he added.

The opening set almost set the tone for the remainder of the contest. The Indians broke away at 11-8 to earn themselves a 15-9 lead from which the Chinese never recovered. Chirag looked especially bright at this stage, earning plaudits from Gopichand. “Twice he hit a backhand crosscut block from the net which I haven’t seen anyone hit,” Gopichand gushed.

“The attack was outrageous and Indians were just stronger. The way they were playing they deserved to win with an even bigger margin,” Gopichand added.

The conquered the opening game 21-15 and the Chinese seemed to be going down the same path in the second with the margin mirroring the 11-8 scoreline. In the second game, Satwik came alive with his cross court smashes and winners. The Chinese duo did come within a point of the Indians at 17-16, but in the end, Satwik and Chirag managed to get their act together and put up one final push in order to take home the win!