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Journalism of Courage
Lakshya Sen and Satwik-Chirag, Men’s Singles Hong Kong Open Badminton Final 2025 Highlights: Lakshya Sen and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty lose in the finals of Hong Kong Open Super 500 on Sunday. Sen went down in straight games against China’s Li Shi Feng 15-21, 12-21 in just 45 minutes. his was Lakshya’s first final since the Syed Modi Super 300 last November but his wait for a Super 500 title since 2023 Canada Open continued. Lakshya had earlier beaten world No 6 Chou Tien Chen in a thrilling straight-games semifinal that ended 23-21, 22-20 in the Indian’s favour. TThe match against Chou might have ended in straight games but it wasn’t straightforward, as the players provided a throwback to Paris 2024, where the Indian had won in three games, in another match filled with highlight-worthy rallies. In the final, Lakshya faces a familiar foe in Li Shi Feng for the 14th time in a rivalry that dates back to their junior days. Read more about Lakshya Sen’s win here.
Earlier in the day, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty lost in three games against China’s Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang in the men’s doubles final. After winning the first game, Satwik-Chirag couldn’t continue the momentum as they lost 21-16, 14-21, 17-21. This was the 10th meeting between the two former world No 1 pairs, and Liang-Wang now lead the H2H 7-3. For Satwik-Chirag, this was the first final of 2025, breaking a streak of semifinals defeats. Read more about Satwik-Chirag’s semifinal performance here.
Why Ashwini Ponnappa believes ‘ambitious’ Satwik-Chirag can beat Malaysia’s Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik again and push Koreans Seo Seung-jae-Kim Won-ho
She rarely or never mentions the significance of it, but Ashwini Ponnappa was right there when India kickstarted the habit of winning medals at World Championships. In 2011, she began the streak with Jwala Gutta, and then went on to be an all-weather well-wisher and true-blue teammate to a pair that has been the biggest doubles story of the last decade – Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty.
“They have risen above the challenges of the past year. We are rooting for them to do even better,” she says with granite-solid loyalty that stems from closely watching your people struggle and then beat back the odds.
