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India's dazzling badminton duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty scripted history to clinch the Swiss Open 2023 title in Basel on Sunday (March 26). Second-seeded Satwik-Chirag trounced the unseeded Chinese pair of Ren Xiang Yu an Tang Qiang 21-19, 24-22 in the final. It is India's first ever Swiss Open title in Men's doubles category.
Earlier, the world no.6 Satwiksairaj and Chirag had defeated third seeds Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi of Malaysia 21-19 17-21 21-17 in the semifinal clash.
Satwik-Chirag entered the match with strong intent and refused to budge in early exchanges. Despite Tan and Ren's sold defence, which included a 47-shot rally to take the fifth point, Chirag and Satwik kept adding to their lead to finally clinch the first game in the BWF Super 300 final.
There was little to separate the two teams in the second game as well. After the scores were tied at 11-11, Shetty’s powerful smashes and Rankireddy’s deft touches helped the Indians build a three-point cushion.
The Chinese pair mounted a comeback with a string of attacking shots. They saved four match points but Chirag and Satwik went on to win the match in 54 minutes.
This was Indian duo's first title of the season after they had a disappointing outing in the last week's All England Championships where they lost in the second round. The Indian pair clinched their fifth career world tour title as they claimed the India Open and French Open last year. They also secured the Thailand Open in 2019 and Hyderabad Open in 2018. Chirag-Satwik dazzled with the gold medal in the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
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