Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty made the nation proud as they created their own piece of history after becoming the first-ever Indian men's doubles pair to clinch gold medal at the Badminton Badminton Asia Championships on Sunday (April 30).
The dazzling duo of India survived early scare to get the better of the eighth-seeded Malaysian pair of Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi 16-21, 21-17, 21-19 in 67 minutes in the final in Dubai.
The sixth-seeded duo, who won gold medal at Commonwealth Games and bronze at World Championships last year, beat the eighth-seeded Malaysian pair of Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi 16-21, 21-17, 21-19 in 67 minutes in the final in Dubai.
The previous best performance by an Indian men’s doubles pair at the continental event was the bronze medal-finish in 1971 by Dipu Ghosh and Raman Ghosh. Overall, this is India’s second gold medal at the event. Dinesh Khanna won the men’s singles gold in Lucknow in 1965 after beating Thailand’s Sangob Rattanusorn.
Meanwhile, 2008 Olympics-medallist shooter Abhinav Bindra took to Twitter to congratulate India's victorious shuttlers.
“Congratulations Chirag and Satwik on your incredible win at the Asian Badminton Championships! Your hard work and dedication have paid off, and you have made India proud. Keep up the fantastic performances!” Abhinav Tweeted.
The sixth-seeded Indian pair didn't get off to a good start. The first game saw a tight contest where Malaysian duo took an advantage of one point as of halfway stage. Satwik-Chirag couldn't do much in the first game and conceded it by 16-21.
Teo and Ong carried their dominant momentum in the second game and were once leading 13-7. But Satwik-Chirag launched a stunning comeback and earned five successive points. They continued their onslaught and took the second game's scoreline to 15-14. The star Indian pair didn't stop there and won six more points to push the match to the third game.
Malaysians yet again gave Indians an early scare in the third game as notched a three point lead by mid-game interval. Teo and Ong almost snatched the game from Indian's grasp and stretched their lead to 15-11. But what happened next shocked everyone as they again launched a fightback and clinched four straight points. From 18-17 up, Chirag won the next two points with a quick kill and a cross-court smash. The Malaysians saved two championship points before Satwik hit a body smash at Teo to close the match and seal the gold medal.
The sixth-seeded Indian duo won gold medal at Commonwealth Games and bronze at World Championships last year.
Meanwhile, after the match Satwiksairaj thanked the crowd and said it will take time to sink that they are Asia champions.
"I think today we didn’t play, the crowd played with us. It was a bad start in the first and half of second game, but we didn’t give up. We kept our nerves; we know how to play these situations. So, we were waiting for the good rhythm and then take our chances. We were calmer in the second and third games. It felt like playing in Hyderabad. The crowd was amazing. Personally for me, it will take a lot of time to believe that we are the Asian champions. I still don’t believe we are Thomas Cup champions. It’s our dream to win for India and make the flag fly high. Good boost for us as we go into the Olympic qualification period."
Chirag said," After 13-8 we tried to play little smarter. Service was one thing that worked really well for us; it took them by surprise. We were also a lot calmer while defending as well."
MORE ON SPORTS TAK:
No regrets about not retaining players like Shubman Gill, Ajinkya Rahane: Venky Mysore after former players helps GT beat KKR
Watch: MS Dhoni lights up Chepauk again with twin sixes in final two balls to power CSK to 200 against PBKS
