New Delhi: Indian men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty bowed out of the ongoing BWF World Tour Finals on Saturday. Satwik-Chirag
lost an interesting semifinal clash 21-10, 17-21, 13-21 against China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang which ended their spirited campaign at the season-ending event.
The Indian duo started off the match on a positive note winning the first game but eventually could not capitalise on their early advantage, going down in the other two games and losing the last-four match that lasted for one hour and three minutes. The first game entirely belonged to the Indians, where they showcased absolute dominance right from the beginning, eventually clinching the game 21-10.
Satwik and Chirag brutal in 1st game
Satwik and Chirag were brutal as they eased their way past the Chinese pair not giving them any opportunity as such to say anything in their defence. The Indian duo had beaten their opponents in the group stage of the event but the Chinese pair was successful in turning the tables on them when it mattered the most.
While the first game saw an absolute dominance from the Indian pair, the second game wasn’t that bad as they gave a strong fight in it before going down 17-21. They were in the game in the first half were they scored valiantly but skipped towards the end forcing the match into the decider.
The deciding set was supposed to turn anyone and it eventually turned in favour of the Chinese as the Indians were left disappointing. Lost the final game 13-21 showed a dominance from the Chinese pair where the Indians failed to give any solid reply.
The Indian duo was unbeaten in the group stage in the season-ending tournament but Saturday’s defeat meant that they could not become the first men’s pair to reach the summit clash of the coveted event. They though became the first Indian men’s pair to reach the semifinals of the season-ending event.
(With PTI inputs)
