Indian men’s doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty failed to make consecutive China Masters final after falling to South Korea’s Jin Yong and Seo Seung Jae 18-21, 21-14, 16-21 in semifinals in Shenzhen on Saturday.
This was Satwik-Chirag’s first tournament since a disappointing campaign at the Paris Olympics after a shoulder injury to the former kept the pair out of action. Last year, the Asian Games gold medallists became the first Indians to reach the final at the China Masters, across all disciplines.
The first game saw the Indians start on the front foot and even maintain the lead for the majority of it. However, the Koreans fought back and clinched the lead in match.
The second game began with the Indians conceding the first point, which saw Chirag take a break to administer some cold spray to provide relief to something that was troubling him.
Satwik-Chirag made quite a few unforced errors, but they improved with every point to come back into contention for the summit clash. If a niggle was hampering Chirag, it didn’t show when he was putting away his shots with confidence.
The action in the match was pulsating, evoking gasps of excitement from an audience clearly in awe of both pairs. This was evident by some dynamic rallies – the longest being of 54 shots in the third game – sprinkled throughout the match.
The third game saw the Koreans take a lead initially, with the left-handed shuttlers having their noses ahead 11-7 at the break. Despite attempts to make a comeback, the Indians conceded defeat.
