BWF World Tour Finals: How Satwik-Chirag can qualify for semifinals – scenarios explained as Group of Death heads for a thrilling finale

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty – India's sole qualifiers for the tournament this year – found themselves in the Group of Death for Hangzhou 2025.

Satwik-Chirag are leading the way at the end of two rounds of matches, having won both their matches so far, albeit in three games. (BWF Photo)

The format of the BWF World Tour Finals is such that there is very little margin of error – a tournament featuring 8 best players or pairs in the world over the past year, isn’t supposed to be smooth sailing for anyone. But even by that account, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty – India’s sole qualifiers for the tournament this year – found themselves in the Group of Death for Hangzhou 2025. And after two rounds, all four pairs in the said group have a chance to qualify for the semifinals.

What are the current standings in Satwik-Chirag’s Group B?

Satwik-Chirag are leading the way at the end of two rounds of matches, having won both their matches so far, albeit in three games. On Wednesday, they came back from a game down and match point down, to win in three games against home favourites Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang. On Thursday, they started and finished strongly to overcome a mid-match stumble and beat Indonesia’s Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri. The former world No. 1 Indian pair registered a 21-11, 16-21, 21-11 win over world No. 8 in a match that lasted an hour. With two wins from two matches, Satwik and Chirag now lead the group on 2 points for 2 wins. They will face second seeds Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik in their last group match on Friday.

What are the scenarios facing Satwik-Chirag to qualify for the semifinals?

But the task of qualifying for the semifinals is still not that straightforward as Liang-Wang will fancy their chances of beating Alfian-Fikri and register their second win too.

For Satwik-Chirag to qualify for the semifinals:

1) They need to beat Chia-Soh and move up to three wins in three matches; or

2) They need to avoid a straight-games defeat against Chia-Soh. If they take even one game against the Malaysians, their passage through to semifinals is assured; or

3) If Satwik-Chirag lose in straight games (0-2) against Chia-Soh, then they’d need Alfian-Fikri to defeat Liang-Wang.

NOTE: If Satwik-Chirag lose in straight games, and Liang-Wang lose in three games, then it would come down to a two-way head-to-head between the Indian and Chinese pair as per BWF rules, so Satwik-Chirag will qualify in that case.

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What are the complete tiebreak rules as per BWF?

Here’s the relevant BWF rule to decide rankings in an individual event like the World Tour Finals:

1) Ranking in individual tournaments will be established by the number of matches won.

2) If two Players / pairs have won the same number of matches, the winner of the match between them will be ranked higher.

3) If three or more Players / pairs have won the same number of matches, ranking will be established by the difference between total games won and total games lost, with greater difference ranked higher. If this still leaves two Players / pairs equal, the winner of the match between them will be ranked higher.

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4) If three or more Players / pairs have won the same number of matches and are equal in the difference between total games won and total games lost, ranking will be established by the difference between total points won and total points lost, with greater difference ranked higher.

5) If this still leaves two Players / pairs equal, the winner of the match between them will be ranked higher. If three or more Players / pairs are still equal, then ranking will be established by drawing lots.