Korea Open: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy & Chirag Shetty enter men’s doubles final at Yeosu
The Indian men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will face Indonesian top seeds Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto in the final of the Korea Open 2023 badminton tournament at the Jinnam Stadium in Yeosu on 23rd July 2023 .
The Indian duo defeated the Republic of China’s Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang, currently world No. 2 in the badminton rankings, 21-15, 24-22 to make their third final of the year.
After a neck-to-neck start to the match, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, the world No. 3 and third seeds at the BWF Super 500 tournament, gained the upper hand in the first game after winning five back-to-back points to make the score 14-8 from 9-8.
The Indian badminton players rode the momentum to close out the opening game with ease but came up against much sterner resistance in the second game.
Trailing 14-9 at one stage, Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang levelled the scores at 19-all but the Indians managed to raise their game at the vital juncture to finish off the contest in 40 minutes. Results at the Korea Open count towards players’ qualifying rankings for the Paris 2024 Olympics.