India men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty capped off their impressive campaign with a title win, beating China’s Ren Xiang Yu and Tan Qiang in the final of the Swiss Open Super 300 badminton tournament here on Sunday.
The second-seeded Indian pair, the 2022 World Championships bronze medallist, was solid in defence and dished out an attacking game to outwit the world No. 21 pair 21-19, 24-22 in 54 minutes.
It was the first title of the season for India with Satwik and Chirag putting to rest the disappointment of last week’s All England Championships where they had exited in the second round.
Overall, it was the fifth career world tour title for the Indian pair, who had claimed the India Open and French Open last year, besides securing the Thailand Open in 2019 and Hyderabad Open in 2018.
Satwik and Chirag had also won the Commonwealth Games gold in 2022.
The title run also meant India continued their love affair with the Swiss Open, with PV Sindhu (2022), Saina Nehwal (2011, 2012), Kidambi Srikanth (2015) and HS Prannoy (2016) claiming the crown in the past.
The two pairs had contrasting march to the final with Satwik and Chirag playing three three-game matches on their way to the summit clash, while Tan and Ren didn’t drop a game.
Tan had forged a world No. 10 pairing with He Jiting in 2019, winning the 2021 World Championships silver medal, while Ren had been ranked as high as 16 with his former partner Ou Xuanyi.
In the first game, India managed to lead 3-1 early on before the Chinese drew parity at 6-6. The Indians tried to keep the rallies flat and short and it worked, as they led 15-10 and then 18-13. However, Tan and Ren soon narrowed down the gap to 17-18.
But, a precise smash from Chirag gave India two game points. Satwik sailed one long before sealing the game with a winner to take the first advantage.
The second game was an extremely close affair. After a see-saw battle, the Indians extended the lead to 14-11 but China was back on level par at 16-16.
But finally India grabbed their fourth championship point and converted it to give India a reason to celebrate.
