Hangzhou [China], December 20 (ANI): India’s top men’s doubles pair, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, saw their impressive run at the BWF World Tour Finals 2025 come to an end in the semi-finals, going down 21-10, 17-21, 15-21 to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang.
The Indian pair started strongly, taking the opening game in commanding fashion, but the Chinese duo turned the contest around in the latter stages, settling for a bronze medal.
Satwiksairaj-Chirag, third in the badminton rankings, started the match slowly against the world No. 5 pair Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who took a 4-1 early lead in the opening game.
But India’s shuttlers stormed back; Sat-Chi took control and dominated the rest of the game. The Chinese pair fought back in game 2, going neck and neck. Tied at 15-all, Liang-Wei Keng and Wang Chang clinched crucial points, pushing it to a decider.
Unlike the build-up, the second game proved to be a rather one-sided affair with Wang Chang taking control of the net and Liang Wei Keng’s devastating flick serves, leaving the Indians stranded.
This was Satwik-Chirag’s eighth defeat in 12 matches against the Chinese pair. Five of these clashes have been in 2025.
Sat-Chi had topped Group B after going unbeaten in three matches to become the first Indian doubles team to enter the knockout stages of the season-ending badminton tournament.
This is also only the second BWF World Tour Finals medal ever won by Indian shuttlers. PV Sindhu, who won the women’s singles title in 2018, remains the only gold medallist from the country in the competition. (ANI)
