In a blazing show of power-hitting combined with canny placement, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty scored their first victory over China’s Liang Wei Keng-Wang Chang in three meetings, to win the Korea Open semifinals. The Indians will play top ranked Fajar Alfian and Muhamad Rian Ardianto in the final – their fourth of the year after the Swiss Open, Asian Championships and Indonesia Open, all of which they have won. The World No 3 Indians are on a 9-match win streak, and are looking to win back to back titles at Yeosu, Korea after the Super 1000 at Jakarta.
While all the talk surrounds how hard the Indians hit – and hit very hard they do – Saturday was all about inciting anarchy in Chinese ranks hitting down the middle with cross strokes. The Chinese have 27 wins from 34 matches this year including titles at Thailand and India Open, but had few answers to the Indian attack on the day. The previous two matches at the All England Round 2 and Malaysian semifinals had gone to three sets but the Indians were absolutely dominant in their 21-15, 24-22 win in 40 minutes.
“It had been a close match at All England too (21-19 in the third), but Chirag-Satwik are a much improved pairing now, more matured,” said Pullela Gopichand who was in the coach’s chair on the day. “They are playing to each other’s strengths and hitting harder than anyone else,” he added. (READ MORE)
In an interaction with The Indian Express last month, Satwik and Chirag had spoken to us about their dance moves. Here's what Satwik had said about the pair's Thomas Cup dances: "About the celebrations, personally, I’m more of a ‘dance guy’. Once I hear drums being played, my legs just start moving (laughs). For the final, I think someone from our team arranged for the drums. I couldn’t control myself. Chirag removed his t-shirt and we just let go. We wanted to do that Naatu Naatu dance but didn’t want to promote any movie as such. Maybe soon we’ll do it."
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Satwik-Chirag came into the final with a 2-2 head-to-head against Alfian-Ardianto, but have won the last two times, including quarterfinals at Indonesia during their title run. The Indonesians play the flat game at high pace, but the Indian attack has been unstoppable these last few months. They have now made it 3-2 against the World No 1.
Asian Champions Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty defeated world no. 1 Indonesian duo Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto in a thrilling 3-game men's doubles final 17-21, 21-13, 21-14 to clinch the Korea Open 2023 title in Yeosu, Korea on Sunday.
This is the third Super 500 title of their career so far after Thailand Open 2019 and Yonex Sunrise India Open 2022 and third BWF World Tour title in 2023 as well, having previously won Swiss Open 2023 (Super 300) and Indonesia Open 2023 (Super 1000) earlier this year.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty beat Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto 17-21, 21-13, 21-14 to win the Korean Open Gangnam style celebration comes out - Shetty joins in the usual jig man Rankireddy.
Both Shetty and Rankireddy have sort of angled swipe-lifts when they send the shuttle high which make it tough to smash back. Great low retrieve from Satwik to inch closer to victory.
Indians having the better of the fast flat exchanges here. They are leading by 15-12.
Even the pushes at short range from Indians carry so much power that some are unreturnable. The flat pushes are higher too, at eye level making it tough for Indonesians. They are leading the decider by 11-8.
Intra-rally speed of Indians was very high through that second set. Did well to force many lifts and finish with a smash, like the last one from Shetty. Great deception from Satwik at 13-9. The Indians won the second game 21-13.
After a 19-minute capitulation in the first game, the Indians have managed to fight back in the next 13 minutes to head into the interval of Game 2 with a 11-8 lead.
Superb attacking from the Indians to force an error from their rivals. They rain down shots at the body of the rivals, choking them for oxygen, until Alfian sends the bird out. The Indians lead 7-6 in the second game.
Good rallying from behind for 6 points in a row, with solid gameplay over the first 3-4 strokes, but not enough to make up that early lead. Indonesian flat game doing the damage
Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto win the opening game 21-17 against Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty. The Indonesians have taken a big lead but the Indians have made a good comeback in the later half of the opening game.
The Indians were being blown out of the water here a little. But with the end in sight, they have managed to win a few points back to back to peg back the score to 20-16.
An excellent rally, and Chirag and Satwik are making a spirited fight back. They have won five points in a row. They are still trailing 15-19.
Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto lead Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty 11-4 in the first game.
Indonesians using the body attack on Satwik early here in the finals. They are leading by 5-3.
The Indonesians came through a tiring 74-minute encounter in the semi-final that went the distance. The Indians have, on the other hand, won all their games with two-nil margins. The timing for their four matches so far: 32 mins, 43 mins, 40 mins, 40 mins.
Alfian and Adrianto are the top-seeded pairing and the favourites today. But the Indians have been in smashing form this year. It promises to be a mouthwatering clash. Chirag and Satwik are in action. The players are having the pre-match sparring ritual.
The men's doubles final will start anytime now. India's Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will take on Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto in the summit clash. Stay tuned!
The Danish players lost the first game 11-21, but then managed to come back with a 21-11, 21-19 scoreline in the next two games. What a comeback!!!
Antonsen's drought is over. He has defeated Loh Kean Yew 11-21, 21-11, 21-19 to win his first title in two and a half years.
What a fightback this has been! He's leading 19-17 in the decider.
No coach carries a magic wand with him, and Muhammad Hafiz Hashim knows PV Sindhu’s fortunes won’t change overnight, merely with his arrival. Fallen out of the Top 16 bracket, Sindhu faces an uphill task to regain days of glory that date back to 2019 – four years ago, when she was crowned World Champion. She spent 377 weeks in Top Ten before dropping off in April earlier this year. Yet there was a whiff of optimism as Sindhu who turned 28 earlier this month, announced the new appointment who in turn did not shy away from ambition.
Declaring that the Paris Olympics gold was their ultimate goal, Hafiz seemed to take the pressure of immediate short-term results off Sindhu, even as he infused confidence in her saying he trusted her abilities to come good.
How can new coach Hafiz Hashim help PV Sindhu win gold at Paris Olympics? Shivani Naik explains in her column.
Anders Antonsen wins four points in a row to level at 7-7 against Loh Kean Yew in the decider. Remember, he's playing from the side where the drift is coming from behind him making things more tricky. At mid-game interval, when players change sides, Loh is going to be in deep trouble.
A superb fightback from Anders Antonsen, who has won the second game 21-11 after losing the first one 11-21.
Now the game gets interesting as Kean starts Game 3 with the drift assisting him.
Anders Antonsen has taken a 16-8 lead in the second game after gpoing down tamely in the first. This is turning out to be an interesting contest.
The All England champions Alfian-Ardianto have a 3 of 3 win record in finals in 2023, while the Indians Satwik-Chirag boast of 4 out of 4, according to Statminton. The Indians can make a charge at World No 1 with a title here, but will need to win Japan Open next week. Should the Indonesians win today, they will secure their World No 1 status until the World Championships, writes Shivani Naik.
"We don’t fear Chinese, Koreans or Japanese; they might be thinking, ‘Oh sh*t, we are playing Chirag and Satwik’," the Indian men's doubles duo had told us in an interview.
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Singapore's Loh Kean Yew takes a vice-like grip on this match to decide the men's singles champion! He wins the first game 21-11, without even breaking into a sweat!
The local fans cheerign for the Singaporean. A very audibly collective gasp from the fans when Antonsen wins a point here!
It'll be Anders Antonsen taking on Loh Kean Yew for the men's title.
What a way to beat Tai Tzu Ying!!
Who could have predicted that scoreline?!?!
Home favourite An Se Young defeats Tai Tzu Ying 21-9, 21-15!!! The Chinese Taipei shuttler was never really in it.
Young was 11-4 in the interval of the first game. She's 11-5 in the second! Talk about one-sided dominance!
Just 27 minutes for this final so far.
Incredible, JUST INCREDIBLE!, from the Korean. Tai goes on the attack. She rains down a couple of smashes, but Young leans in and returns. Finally, Tai makes a mistake by sending the bird out. The Korean leads 6-2 in the second game.
Tai Tzu Ying is still down by 10 points, but here is the trademark deception that we have come to expect from the Taipei shuttler. She rises for a smash in the backcourt, and then does a subtle turn of the wrist to send the shuttle where Young was not expecting it. That's a rare glimmer of magic from tai in this first game. She loses 21-9.
Here a weird fact!
Tai Tzu Ying has never faced An Se Young in the final on the BWF tour before today!
After the Korean's early dominance, Tai made her younger opponent dive around on the net and then hit a kill shot to win the point. She trails 8-15, but the gap was 11-4 at the interval.
How often do we see this?
The Chinese Taipei shuttler is trailing (by a lot) in the final to the Korean! Young holds a 11-4 lead in the first game!
Second seeded An Se Young taking on fourth seeded Tai Tzu Ying in the women's singles final.
After the heartbreak for the home fans in the the women's doubles final, here's a change for them to celebrate.
China's top seeded pair Chen Qing Chen and Jia Yi Fan defeat Korean fourth seeds Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong 21-10, 17-21, 21-7!
That scoreline for the first and third games, with the drift assisting them, really shows how dominant the Chinese pair got! Understandably, they're the women's doubles champs at the Korean Open, breaking the hearts of home fans.
The Chinese top seeds take a 11-3 lead in the decider. The drift really helping them regain their ruthlessness from the first game.
They just need to close this game down. The Korean defence withering in the face of relentless Chinese onslaught.
What fight from Korea's Kim and Kong!
They played out of their skins to force a third game after being comprehensively thumped in the first. Spurred by the dancing, cheering crowd, the fourth-seeded Koreans claimed the second game 21-17.
The Korean pair hold a 16-13 lead in the second game and we seem destined for a decider.
Korean fourth seeds Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong take a 7-6 lead!!! After being down and out from the first point in the first game, they've started to unsettle the Chinese pair qith their impenetrable defence.
WOW!
That was a clinical display from the top seeded pair from China. They've won the first game 21-10, allowing their Korean opponents to claim back-to-back points JUST ONCE in the entire game.
China's top seeded pair Chen Qing Chen and Jia Yi Fan are one game away from another title against home favourites Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong.
China's Chen and Jia are really turning the screws on their Korean opponents. They hold a 14-5 lead in the first game. The Koreans have not managed to get consecutive points so far.
The women's doubles final is currently on between China's top seeded pair Chen Qing Chen and Jia Yi Fan from China and Korean fourth seeds Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong.
Feng Yan Zhe and Huang Dong Ping beat Chinese compatriots Jiang Zhen Bang and Wei Ya Xin 21-16, 21-13 to claim the mixed doubles title!
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the Korea Open badminton. Indian men's doubles pairing of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will be in action soon, as they face Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto.