Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty win fourth title of the year at Korea Open

Satwik-Chirag bounced back from losing the first game to defeat top seeds in the Korea Open final.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have tasted success once again with their conquest of Korea Open on Sunday by defeating top-ranked seeds Fajar Alfian and Rian Ardianto 17-21, 21-13, 21-14.

Satwik and Chirag began the match by losing the first game 17-21 but they made a strong comeback to win the second game 21-13. In the decisive third and final game of the contest, they won 21-14. In the third game, the Indian duo secured a quick 7-3 lead which then became 11-8. They secured the title by closing out the game 21-14.

“The way we played today in the finals, didn’t start off that well but happy that we could win that second game and keep the momentum until the very end and yes, extremely happy that we could win the consecutive titles after the Indonesia Open,” Chirag said.

As mentioned before, the match began on a slow note for the Indian duo. They looked a bit off colour at the beginning and fell behind their rivals for the most part. Although they did managed to narrow down the difference with a consecutive streak of six points, they fell short and lost the first game.

The second game begun on a more even footing and both pairs found themselves engaging in a few intense rallies. The Indians quickly infused more intensity and pace into their game and started dominating the rallies.

The Indians opened up a slender 6-4 lead after a Chirag interception and maintained it till 10-8, with Satwik unleashing his trademark smash. The Indian duo also had a cushion of three points at the break when the Indonesians went wide.

The score quickly became 17-11 thanks to brilliant cross-court smashes from Chirag. They did squander a couple of points before sealing the game and forcing the decider.

Satwik and Chirag also looked to be in cruise control in the third game and they sought out a 9-6 lead which then became 11-8 while going into the interval. The Indians were definitely more aggressive and managed to keep the world’s number-one pair under pressure.

Following the mid-game resumption, the Indians were able to hold on to their three-point lead at 13-10. Satwik and Chirag also dominated the flat exchanges, working up an 18-12 lead. Alfian produced a superb backhand return but sprayed the next one into the net to hand over seven match points.

“It’s been pretty good week for us. We played some amazing badminton throughout the week here and I am happy with the performance today,” Satwiksairaj said.

“We want to continue with the same momentum next week at Japan Open so we’ll go back now, rest and focus again. Thank you for all the support.”