Satiwksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty fought for 82 minutes against Malaysia's Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzudin to reach Thailand Open Super 5000 final with a 19-21 22-20 21-16 win on May 16 in Bangkok.
Satwik and Chirag will look to win their third Thailand Open title after getting the better of world no.9 Malaysian pair. In the final, India's World No.4 pair will either face Indonesia's Leo Rolly Carnando and Danile Marthin or Chinese pair He Ji Ting and Ren Xiang Yu to win the title and USD 500,000.
Recently, the decorated Indian pair created buzz for lack of coverage from mainstream media or the public after India's bronze-winning campaign in Thomas Cup in Denmark.
Malaysians catch Indian pair off-guard
On May 16, the Indian pair faced early setback as they were trailing by six points. They tried to make a comeback but were beaten 19-21 in the first game.
The first game featured Izzudin's powerful smashes. The Indian pair made a few unforced errors which led to Izzudin and Goh gaining early advantage.
A thrilling second game
The second game was a closely-fought affair. But, Satwik, Chirag managed to take a 9-6 lead. The Malaysians were quick to make a comeback. The tussle continued even though India got a two or three-point lead on occasions. The Indian pair had two game points but Malaysians made another comeback. At 20-20, the spectators witnessed an electrifying rally. In the end, Satwik's barrage of smashes helped India win the second game.
Reddy-Shetty storm into final
After the change of sides, the third game was closely fought till 5-5. Then, the Indian pair dominated the proceedings. Malaysians made unforced errors and Satwik-Chirag capitalised, taking an 11-5 lead. The Malaysians managed to reduce the deficit to four points. But, in the end, they ran out of steam. Satwik's smash led to Indian pair earning five match points. After a lucky point for the Malaysians, Chirag ended the proceedings, booking a spot in the final.