This is now a pretty sensational run from the Indians! Satwik-Chirag are dominating the service-return situations. A run of 10 out of the 11 points. Kim has been a little erratic so far.
Journalism of Courage
Satwik-Chirag vs Seo-Kim, China Masters 2025 Highlights: India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty went down in straight-games on Sunday against world No 1 and recently crowned World Champions Kim Won Ho and Seo Seung Jae in the final of the China Masters 2025, a Super 750 tournament. It is now back-to-back runners-up finishes for Satwik and Chirag after a hard-fought 45-minute final against the most in-form pair in the world as the Koreans clinched the championship with a 21-19, 21-15 win.
Earlier, the Indian pair made into their second final of the season with a commanding performance on Saturday as they dominated second-seeded Malaysia’s Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik, clinching a straight-games victory 21-17, 21-14 in 41 minutes.
Satwik-Chirag had earlier made it to the final of the Hong Kong Super 500 last week, where they lost in the title clash against China’s Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang in three games. That was their first final on the World Tour in 2025, having suffered a string of semifinal losses earlier in the season. This week in Shenzhen, Satwik and Chirag have been in ruthless form, not dropping a game so far on their way to the final. Read more about their semifinal win here. “In the first half of the year, we got a lot of breaks because of injuries and I think right now we both are in good condition, fingers crossed, and hopefully we’ll continue this form,” Satwik told BWF on Saturday.
This is now a pretty sensational run from the Indians! Satwik-Chirag are dominating the service-return situations. A run of 10 out of the 11 points. Kim has been a little erratic so far.
When on the parallel, the Satwik-Chirag pushes are passing just centimetres over the net. It's a super awkward angle for Koreans when shuttle is coming at their face. Super smart and skilled from Indians. Even the down shot is very short. Damn neat
Shivani Naik, as the Indians take a 11-7 lead in to the break
WHAT A RALLY! Sensational badminton from all four players. The Indians once again on the attack early on, but Seo and Kim pull off some miraculous saves. Satwik then changes up the pace, slowing it down with drops from the backcourt, then the pace improves on the flat exchange before the Koreans make the error.
Delightful return of serve from Satiwk and horly after the Indians have the lead. A sensational net shot from Chirag, kissing the top of the tape, 9-7 for the Indians.
SUPER RALLY! Just as Gill Clark and Steen Pedersen were describing this as a battle between the best attack in the world in men's doubles (the Indians) and the best defence in the world (the Koreans), they produce a rally befitting of that description. Superb defence from the Koreans but the barrage of smashes from the Indians eventually wins the point.
Chirag levels it up at 3-3 after a lovely third shot at the net.
Oh dear, the service fault at height. A familiar problem. Maybe good to get it out of the early.
Then Seo shows his class with a lovely push to the forehand deep corner, the touch of class from the leftie.
A couple of mistakes from Chirag to start off and both "rallies" not really coming out of the first 3-4 shots. The Indians get on board after a good return from Chirag, followed by a kill shot from Satwik midcourt.
Warmups done. We are all set. Fasten your seatbelts, this is going to be fast and furious.
While the Indians are yet to drop a game this week, the world champions have had to take the scenic route. Quite a few tough battles, starting with the replay of the World Championships final in the very first round.
Kim-Seo are leading, of course, in the race for the World Tour finals. Satwik-Chirag are currently 4th and are set to go up by one spot, informs commentator Gill Clark.
Screengrab: JioHotstar
Seo Seungjae is probably the best doubles player in the world over the last two-plus years and his leftie-brilliance has bothered the Indians in the past as well. A big challenge coming up for Satwik-Chirag.
A little more about Kim Won Ho and Seo Seung Jae. The two of them used to play regularly from 2017 and 2019 before going separate ways. Over last two years, Seo was in sensational form, playing both mixed doubles and men's doubles. But at the start of 2025 he reunited with Seo and they have been in SENSATIONAL FORM.
Here's a reminder of the only meeting between Satwik-Chirag and Kim-Seo earlier this year.
China's Weng Hong Yang delivers for the home crowd. A straight-games win for him. Once the presentation ceremony is done for this, Satwik-Chirag will be on court for their clash against Seo-Kim
Long rallies brought PV Sindhu a miniscule of points against An Se-young. But neither Sindhu’s credentials as former World champion, nor her resurgent form, not her attacking panache, not her defensive reach, stood any chance against the dominant World No 1 Korean. With her 21-14, 21-13 win at China Masters, Se-young went 8-0 up on Sindhu in career head to heads. Se-young has scored 354 points against Sindhu’s 234, which averages almost 15 points more in each of the 8 matches they have played. The Korean is uncontestable by several players, but some head-to-heads are surprising and epoch-defining.
The Chinese left-hander has just gone on a stirring run of five straight points from 13-13 and is about to clinch the title much to the delight of the home crowd in Shenzhen.
Lin Chun Yi making a fight out of it in the 2nd game.
Just look at the sort of season that Kim Won Ho and Seo Seung Jae have had. A stunning year that has seen them climb up the world rankings rapidly to be No 1.
Weng Hong Yang has taken the opening game against Lin Chun Yi rather comfortably in the battle of unseeded lefties. Satwik-Chirag's match will begin after this.
Chirag: The flick service, yes, it did catch us off guard that night. We didn’t really expect them to do that many flicks because in the previous matches that we saw, they were not flicking as much. We were also sort of pushing forward. Credit to them that they were serving quite well in the front serves as well. That’s why we were trying to take it as early as possible. And they were mixing it with flick serves. They always kept us guessing. Having said that, we could have been a little calmer and accepted the fact that they are serving well, and just needed to focus on the next 3-4 strokes rather than going for an attack on their serve.
What are the immediate plans for the rest of the season? And is All England the next big goal?Satwik: When Tan coach came, the target was this year’s All England. Then the World Championship. Then, for sure, I told him, we have to play World Tour Finals, no matter what. No matter what, these three tournaments are very major for me. Unfortunately, All England, things weren’t right. Then yeah, I think with World Championship, coach is a little happier. Beating the Malaysians, he was more happy actually! (laughs) He doesn’t like losing to the Malaysians. We are looking forward to the World Tour finals as well. So, we want to end the season on a good note. And as Chirag said, managing the workload as well. Not to rush ourselves, play in our comfort zone and see where we go.
What does this medal mean to you?
Satwik: It’s been a tough season for us, on and off the court. Things were not in place mentally, physically. So many things in the background. But still fighting for the place in the top eight, and still hunting for that podium finish. At the right time we picked up. Yes, a little disappointed too. We could have gone a little further. But before coming here, we wanted to beat these two pairs. Especially the Chinese, then obviously Aaron-Soh, the way we played, I was happy that we are not so behind. We are up there. We settle with bronze, next we will see in Delhi.
You must have been remembering your father as well.
Satwik: Definitely. I was talking to mom about that only when I called on Saturday. She couldn’t sleep as well. She was saying how dad would have been so happy, he’d have been calling everyone. And he’d have been the one talking to the press. But now house is very quiet. So I told her to take Dad’s phone and just talk with everyone! (Smiles) Just switch on his phone and talk in whatever language she was comfortable with. We laughed about that. Then I talked with my brother. On the podium, I was feeling quite emotional. Seeing the Indian flag. Just last year, we thought we would be standing here, same place. Now, after one year, we are standing, but without him. Life goes on.
On Sunday, they face perhaps the toughest test in badminton right now: against the red-hot Korean duo of Seo Seung Jae and Kim Won Ho, who have zoomed up the world rankings after reuniting earlier this year and look set to hold on to the World No 1 status for a long time, having recently won the World Championships as well. The key to beating the best pairs seems to be Satwik-Chirag's improved defensive structure and counterpunching skills. Their combined attack is arguably the best in men's doubles right now, and that remains the go-to Plan A. With both of them being tall shuttlers and blessed with a strong power game, Chirag and Satwik can dominate any match when they are given the height to work with. When they were tested by the flat parallel gameplay of the Malaysian and Chinese pairs, they tended to struggle. But, as was the case on Saturday, they were able to more than neutralise the flat game of the Malaysians, absorbing pressure on defence and using the angles well on court. The fourth point in the opening game was the perfect illustration. Satwik repeatedly lifted to the backcourt and Soh's smashes kept coming back before the Indians settled into a side-by-side formation for a flat exchange, and eventually Chia made the error at the net.
Going forward, Ashwini says her only wish is they stay fit and healthy. “The challenge always is how to get an injury-riddled body working for the game. Body takes a beating, there’s more wear and tear because of their style than players who play defensive and take pace off the shuttle. Countering new pairs – not yet analysed, can pose a separate challenge, knowing back of their mind that their own game is threadbared,” she says. What’s always struck Ashwini about Satwik-Chirag is how they’ve been ambitious together. “I love their ambition, and it used to fuel their success. But now the bond is strengthened because they look out for each other, after failure. That’s unbreakable,” Ashwini says.
Because they were this happy-go-lucky seeming pair, that danced after titles, grinned widely, quipped funny, smashed like giants and rarely fussed over bad times, the slump hit harder, even altering their personalities – but making them stronger. “Injuries as you get older are very tough, Satwik lost his dad, the Olympic loss. These aren’t things you get past or overcome easily. It’s challenging, there’s different emotions on court, off court, a lot of things are happening to pull you down.” Happens to all, but theirs was starker, she adds. The broader contours of the partnership have changed, Ashwini says. “They were very strong, but now Satwik can dominate at the net, Chirag plays a lot from the back. When fast and powerful, they are formidable. But in their flow they can be lethal."
He is as popular as some of the K-drama stars, and with his mid parting and curls, even considered as Goblin Kim Shin of badminton, after the acclaimed series lead, Gong Yoo. But Seo Seung-jae receives international admiration, especially after he defended his men’s doubles world title at Paris won with Kang Min-hyuk, with a different partner, Kim Won Ho. In 2023, Seung-jae won both mixed and men’s doubles titles, in 2025 he claimed the men’s again, defeating the Chinese upstarts Liu-Chen. His game style might be as effective as the Indonesian Daddies (Hendra Setiawan and Md Ahsan), but Seung-jae is increasingly getting tagged with a similar nickname too: in the badminton universe, and the crazed Far East following, he is ‘Dori Papa’, tagged after his former new-born Dori, whose birth and every milestone gets followed by millions on Instagram.
By defeating Chia-Soh on Saturday, Satwik-Chirag narrowed their Head-to-Head deficit down to 5-11 against the Malaysians.
During the coaching intervals, coach Tan would start off by giving his tactical inputs. And then he'd look at his wards and throw in a question: "What do you think?" After the opening game, it was to Chirag. In Game 2's mid-game interval, it was to Satwik. He'd listen on as they weighed in with their tactical analysis: what was working well and what they needed to do better. It's becoming a common sight during their matches these days and a sign of how the mentorship is now evolving into a partnership.
After their run to the semifinals at the World Championships in Paris – during which they beat Chia-Soh in the quarterfinals, also in straight games – the Indians told this daily in an interview about the second stint with coach Tan Kim Her being different to the first. When the Malaysian, along with Pullela Gopichand, decided just under a decade back to break up their then partnerships and pair them together, it was all about following the master's instructions. Now, it's a two-way street. "We were very young, we used to just follow him, whatever he told us. We just used to listen to him. But now, it’s two-way. We share our things, what is working and what is not working," Satwik had said. It was interesting to see how that played out in the semifinal, too.
Highlights of Satwik-Chirag's semifinal win against Chia-Soh
The women's doubles final, the third of the day, is going down to the wire. That will be followed by men's singles final, and then in the fifth and last title clash of the event, Satwik-Chirag will be in action.
China Masters: Satwik-Chirag defeat Chia-Soh twice in a row, reach back-to-back finals with dominant win
You wait so long for one, then two come along in quick time. This was the sentiment last week at the Hong Kong Open, when Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty and Lakshya Sen ended long waits to reach a final on the BWF World Tour. It was doubly true on Saturday in Shenzhen at the China Masters. Firstly, Satwik-Chirag reached back-to-back finals after a string of semifinal exits. Secondly, they have now registered back-to-back wins against Malaysia’s Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik – a pair that has caused them many a heartache in the past – with a supremely confident performance, prevailing 21-17, 21-14 in just 41 minutes.
After their run to the semifinals at the World Championships in Paris – during which they beat Chia-Soh in the quarterfinals, also in straight games – the Indians told this daily in an interview about the second stint with coach Tan Kim Her being different to the first. When the Malaysian, along with Pullela Gopichand, decided just under a decade back to break up their then partnerships and pair them together, it was all about following the master’s instructions. Now, it’s a two-way street. “We were very young, we used to just follow him, whatever he told us. We just used to listen to him. But now, it’s two-way. We share our things, what is working and what is not working,” Satwik had said. It was interesting to see how that played out in the semifinal, too.'
