India’s Satwik and Chirag Triumph in Thailand Open Final
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty clinched the Thailand Open 2024 badminton men’s doubles title, defeating Chen Bo Yang and Liu Yi from the People’s Republic of China in the final on Sunday. Competing at Bangkok’s Nimibutr Stadium, the world No. 3 Indian pair dominated their 29th-ranked opponents with a straight-sets victory of 21-15, 21-15, concluding the match in 46 minutes.
This victory marks Chirag and Satwik’s second title of the 2024 season and their second Thailand Open win. Earlier this year, they experienced setbacks by losing in the finals of both the Malaysia Open and India Open but rebounded strongly with a win at the French Open in March.
The Thailand Open holds a special place for the Indian duo, as they secured their first Super 500 title on the BWF World Tour at this tournament in 2019. The 2024 Thailand Open final was their fifth appearance in a BWF Super 500 final, and they have maintained a perfect record by winning all five.
“Thailand Open has been a special tournament for us as we won our first Super 500 crown here and have won many more tournaments thereafter,” Satwiksairaj Rankireddy said after their triumph. “We are hoping that this victory will start another winning run for us.”
Their success at the Thailand Open 2024 earned them 9200 ranking points, which is expected to propel them back to the world No. 1 rank next week. This win adds to their impressive collection of eight titles on the BWF World Tour, which includes victories at the Swiss Open, Indonesia Open, and Korea Open last year.
The path to the Thailand Open 2024 title saw the Asian Games champions defeat a series of strong opponents. They bested Malaysia’s Tan Wee Kiong and Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub in the first round, followed by a win over China’s Xie Hao Nan and Zeng Wei Han in the second round. They continued their winning streak by overcoming Malaysia’s Arif Junaidi and Yap Roy King in the quarter-finals and defeating Chinese Taipei’s Ming Che Lu and Tang Kai Wei in the semi-finals. Remarkably, all their victories were in straight games.
Looking ahead, Satwik and Chirag’s next challenge will be the Malaysia Masters BWF Super 500 tournament, starting on Tuesday. Their recent form and string of victories set a promising stage for their upcoming matches, as they continue to strive for excellence on the international badminton circuit.
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