Satwik-Chirag, China Open Badminton Doubles Semi-Final 2025 Highlights: SatChi go down 13-21 17-21 Chia-Soh

Satwik-Chirag made a contest out of this late in Game 2 but Chia-Soh just too good once more. Aaron Chia especially having a stormer of a match today. SatChi's campaign ends in the semifinal. 13-21 17-21.

A China Open doubles title will have to wait for India and India's best-ever doubles pair. 

FINALS SUNDAY BELONGS TO CHINA: In their home Major, it is a major Chinese domination. Four of the five finals tomorrow are all-Chinese affairs.

Here's how the 2nd game panned out. Got tight in the end as SatChi levelled things late on to give some hope, but the Malaysians just too good on the day.

Perhaps a fitting end to the match. Stunning defence from Soh at the front court, keeps the rally alive, and then a complete mishit from Satwik at the other side of the net. The Indians, except for a brief phase in the 2nd game, never really threatened the Malaysians today. 

Now or never... Chirag has the serve at 17-19.

The Malaysians go on the attack. Satwik under defensive pressure and Soh eventually puts it away from the net. 

Three match points for the Malaysians. 

A net cord intervention in favour of the Malaysians. Oh Chirag is appealing for a high serve fault? Or at least a service motion fault. Chia's tumble serve came into play there. Two-point lead. 

Oh what a point. Soh does well to keep the rally going and then Chia comes up with a stunning change of direction mid-rally with Satwik raining down the smashes. 

Well, well, well. WE ARE BACK LEVEL in the game. That's an encouraging point because it was a good flat rally won by the Indians. 

Oh dear, a great return of serve and Satwik misses the third shot. The Malaysians take back the lead immediately. 

Oh good winner Chirag! Calls 'mine, mine' backtracks and nails the smash exactly in between Chia and Soh. Good shout, better shot. 

And we are in for a contest again as the Malaysians miss a crosscourt, and it is a 1-point game. They ask for a review here, perhaps trying to halt the momentum for Satwik-Chirag. 

Superb winner from Chia from the backcourt again. Relentless from the Malaysians.

Chirag gets the serve back with a nice crosscourt winner to follow up a body smash.  

Another 26-shot rally to equals the tally for the longest. The Indians are once again fully on the defense, keep lifting but Soh keeps charging forward with every passing shot and then puts away the winner from the net. 

A rare flat exchange that the Indians managed to dominate, we haven't seen much of that at all today. Despite good defence from Soh, Chirag gets the winner. But a service error from Indians, absolutely can't afford those. 

RALLY OF THE MATCH! 26 shots, new longest rally. This time, the Indians had to defend and defend and defend, they mix up the lifts and flat pushes but Chia comes away with the winner. He has been superb today. 

This has escalated rather quickly away from Chirag and Satwik. 

Is there a twist? Can the Indians rally around themselves to make this an even contest? A good point from SatChi right out of the interval, they get the serve back... and then Soh plays a stunning crosscourt winner. 

A good flick serve from Satwik has the Malaysians scrambling a little bit but Aaron Chia, despite being in a bad position later in the rally, forces the error out of Chirag. Another high-tempo rally follows this time the Indians on the backfoot from the word go and Chia's attacks come through. A massive slice of luck, as if they needed it, for Chia-Soh as the shuttle kisses the top of the net and drops dead on the other side. A hand of apology from ChiaSoh but they are running away with this, 11-6 at the interval. 

Another mistake from the Indians, this time Chirag at the net with the third shot. And then a sensational third shot from Chia leaves Chirag on the floor. The commentators left in awe. This is looking ominous for SatChi now. 

The Indians edge ahead in Game 2. They need to open up an early lead because as much as the side of play will help Indians, scoreboard pressure will not. A brilliant service return from the MAS side and we are level again. 

The Malaysians have to play from the so-called tougher side, but drift doesn't usually play that big a part in men's doubles , given how flat and fast it can be. There is an error early on from the Malysians that maybe gives hope to Indians but the point for 3-2 by Chia Soh is another flat masterclass. Worrying sign as Chirag has to dive forward after a couple of smart touches at the front court. 

Come on, take one point at a time -- coach Tan Kim Her's final message in the break. Chirag had some insights as to how they can come back in this.

Oh wow, that sums it up for the Indians. SatChi try to take the pace off from this rally, perhaps trying to work out a way to win points if they get to play from this side again but Chirag COMPLETELY MISHITS the slice attempt from backcourt, the shuttle barely reaching the net. He looks up in frustration. 

Can the Indians close the gap down here? We don't often see one-sided games between these pair, but it has been one today. As we say that, Chia puts away another flat exchange at the net and gets his side 7 game points. 

Satwik gets the serve for the Indians. But that will be it, as the Indians are unable to put together any run of points. 

More brilliant defending from the Malaysians and Satwik nets the smash from the backcourt at the end of the rally. It's been uncharacteristic from Satwik so far but maybe the conditions are driving these errors, let's see if it turns around in the 2nd game for them.

Oh a complete breakdown in communication between the Indians after a lift from Chia catches them off guard and a scrambling Chirag can't save the point. The Malaysians have run away with this opening game in the last few points. 

Five-point lead for the Malaysians, as Satwik misses a smash again. The Indians have been sharp in attack but have also made the more mistakes so far, driven by the defensive solidity of Chia and Soh. 

ANOTHRE CRAZY POINT. Chia keeps the rally going with a between-the-legs defensive shot. The rally keeps going with the Indians attacking and eventually SatChi take the point. We have seen this a few times now. It is now the longest rally of the match at 24 shots. 

Oh that's a missed chance! Chia slips at the back-court, looses his footing while playing a defensive block and the Indians miss the chance to put the shuttle away. Perhaps actually that distracted Chirag who tried to go towards Chia crosscourt and sent the shuttle wide.

It's a 4-point deficit now. 

Satwik has a look above, evidently some impact of drift, as he misses a smash into the middle of the net. The drift has played a significant part this week in Changzhou. It is a three-point lead for the Malaysians at the mid-game interval. 

If you have to defend, don't stand too far back -- is one of the pointers from coach Tan Kim Her at the interval. 

Some incredible rallies already in this match. Satwik-Chirag vs Chia-Soh almost always delivers. A ridiculous defensive point again from Chia-Soh with the latter diving full length after a scramble on the backcourt, but Satwik puts away the winner. Breathtaking stuff. 

STUNNING DEFENCE FROM CHIA! Wow, Chirag thought he had won that point nice and early but Chia's stunning defence keeps the rally going. But the Indian's attack eventually prevails. The point started with a lovely service return from Satwik. 

Chirag, who has had a fabulous tournament so far, is a little bit iffy so far in this match as the Malaysians take the lead... and as we say that, he gets the serve back. Chia and Soh meanwhile are getting their rhythm going with the flat game they are so good at, as Satwik misses a forehand drive from the backcourt. Can't afford these errors. Chirag with another miss and it is a 3-point lead now. 

Another slightly loose defensive shot from the Malaysians gives some height to work with for Satwik, who puts the shuttle away. 4-1. Chirag then misses a forehand drive from the front court. India challenge next rally, an early call from Chirag to let the shuttle go and then it is called in. And just like that we are back level as the shuttle did lan on the line... BY THE BAREST OF MARGINS. 

We might not see too many of these, given the way Chia-Soh play, but some height to work with for SAtwik and he rains down a massive smash. Chirag then puts away a couple of quick winners from the front court, and it is a nice start for the Indians. 

Here we go then, we are all set for the final semifinal of the day. 

India vs Malaysia in front of an eager Chinese crowd... who seem to be favoring the Malaysians going by the pre-match cheers.

Strtap in!

The ‘serve situation’ as tumble and spinny serves are referred to, were dealt with mostly by Satwik, by taking the pace off the shuttle and dealing with it very late. He neatly drained the venom out of them with deft racquet work, allowed the rally to start slow, and picked up the pace later with a spark plug steep smash. All attack was short, and from midcourt at the furthest. In the opener, it was straightforward, breaking away at 10-8 and playing very acute cross smashes – almost whip lashes. The Indians are unrecognizable almost for their comfort on the flat game if that’s dictated. They can now control fast exchanges better than opponents. There were errors, even high service faults, but absolutely nothing sowed any doubt in their minds that this cluster steep attack was the way to go.

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Heartbreak for An Se Young. She was playing with a heavily strapped knee and her movement was off... and she ends up retiring.

While An Se Young's dreams of Super 1000 Slam are still (just about) alive, newly-crowned men's doubles world No.1 Kim Won Ho and Seo Seung Jae's dream ended in quarterfinals. The Koreans were on track to become the first players to win all four Super 1000 titles in the season, just like ASY, after having won the Malaysia Open, All England and Indonesia Open this year. Now An is a game and 6-8 down.

Satwik-Chirag might have to wait a bit longer as An Se Young drops the opening game and will have to do it in three if she wants to keep the dream of Super 1000 Slam alive.

An Se Young and Han Yue on court now. The Indians will be in action after this match

It was the last match of the day in Changzhou at the Super 1000 China Open, the only one in the arena, in fact. And there was no doubt the crowd stayed on, exhaled along the rollercoaster, and finally rose to applaud Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty. The Indians, back on the verge of entering the Top 10 after a torrid few months, were putting on a show, converting the neutrals, playing Malaysians Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi, winning 21-18, 21-14.

The doubles court can anyways appear too crowded for a player in the thick of things, but the Indians rained down an attack that was so compact that to the Malaysians it would have seemed like pelting hailstones. Operating from the faster side in the second set, the Indians chose doubled aggression to go with the wind. There was no nuancing the attack, no tiptoeing, just thrashing at the shuttle from the front court.

After a sharp start in the first game, Satwik and Chirag held off a late Malaysian surge to clinch it 21-18. In the second, they pulled away from a tight 15-14 lead with six unanswered points to seal the win. They now face a high-stakes clash against world No. 2 Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik of Malaysia, the same pair that ousted them in the Paris 2024 Olympic quarter-finals. 

On Friday, SatChi rather cruised into the men’s doubles semi-finals with a straight-games win over Malaysia’s Yew Sin Ong and Ee Yi Teo. The Indian pair delivered a dominant performance at the Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium, taking the match 21-18, 21-14 in just 40 minutes. This marks their fourth semi-final appearance of the season, following strong runs at the India, Singapore, and Malaysia Opens.

And welcome to our continued live coverage of Indian badminton. It's the year's final Super 1000 tournament (The top tier of events on the BWF World Tour) and India's last contenders, unsurprisingly, are Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty in men's doubles.