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Satwik and Chirag go down fighting in China Masters final
Rankireddy and Shetty saved six championships points against China's Wang Chang and Liang Wei Keng in the decider but couldn't save the last one
At 13-20 down in the deciding game of the final, the writing was seemingly on the wall until the Indians decided to scribble some drama in it. Keeping incredible composure, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty saved six championships points, with Wang Chang and Liang Wei Keng’s relaxed body language getting tighter with each passing point. Six chances had come and gone in a flash for the Chinese, when Liang tried to pause the Indians’ momentum by seeking a medical timeout. The umpire was having none of it. Play on, he said.
Play on they did, although Satwik and Chirag couldn’t carry on their spirted fight for one more point. A pulsating rally fittingly capped off a topsy-turvy men’s doubles final of the BWF China Masters. As Wang’s shot from the front court bounced off Chirag’s shoulder, Satwik was the lone man standing as Chirag rested on his heels while the Chinese, releasing all their nerves, slumped to the court in jubilation.
The world No. 1 pair lifted the China Masters title in front of their home fans beating the former world No. 1 Indian duo 21-19, 18-21, 21-19 in the final of the BWF Super 750 tournament that lasted one hour and 11 minutes on Sunday.
It brought to an end Satwik and Chirag’s rousing run in the finals of tournaments. The pair’s previous second-place finish on the BWF Tour came back in October 2019, when it lost the French Open title clash. Since then, a place in the final has invariably led to a top spot on the podium for the Indians, with titles at the India Open (January 2022), French Open (October 2022), Swiss Open (March 2023), Indonesia Open (June) and Korea Open (July) on the BWF Tour apart from triumphs at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, 2023 Asian Championships and last month's Asian Games.
The Asian Games, in fact, was where the two pairs had faced off when the Indians beat the Chinese in the gold medal match of the team event that India lost 2-3. If the crowd in Hangzhou was vociferously backing their local boys in Hangzhou, Sunday’s scenes in Shenzhen were no different.
And so when Chirag faulted on his serve on the second point of the match, it was accompanied by a cheer. Chirag was also error-prone at the net to begin with as the Chinese opened up a 7-3 lead despite a diving get by Chirag that wasn't enough to win the point. Chirag grew his presence from the back of the court while the Indians reeled off three straight points. The Chinese still went into the first break with a two-point edge, but the Indians’ defence — the lifts and lobs — got them back level at 13-13.
For the first time since the first point, the Indians nudged ahead and a point later, won a 26-shot smash duel. However, the Chinese were more consistently coming out on top of rallies where they were on the attack, especially Liang. One such occasion, when a wonderful deception put Chirag on the floor to merely place the shuttle back into play, earned them a game point and the crowd favourites didn’t need any more.
Springing into an early lead again, the Chinese were bossing the rallies from the back court. Like at 6-4 when they turned defence into offence. Or a couple of points later when Liang’s smash pierced Chirag and Satwik perfectly. But a couple of wide errors to go also kept the Indians in the contest, and they went into the change of ends with a 11-10 lead on the back of four straight points.
The Chinese continued to misfire as the Indians raced ahead 15-11. Satwik, who was fairly muted on the day in his body language and play, was now starting to make his own smashes talk. At 19-17, he polished off a fast exchange to set up a game point and the decider.
The Indians kicked it off with a couple of errors of their own before a drop smash by Liang set the tone for the Chinese who came out jumping and roaring to win the first five points. Spurred by the crowd, the home pair was running away with the battle, and with a five-point deficit at the change of ends, the Indians needed something dramatic to defuse the dragon.
They collected two more points in a promising passage of play at either end of the break. But the Chinese quickly got back to their prowling and smashing ways. When Satwik hit a routine shot long, the Indian chips appeared down. They valiantly went all in right till the end, saving those six match points. Until the Chinese hit jackpot on the seventh.
