Satwik-Chirag pair signs off with bronze at World Championships

Paris: Top Indian pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty signed off with a bronze medal after going down fighting to China’s 11th seeds Chen Bo Yang and Liu Yi in the men’s doubles semifinals of the World Championships here.

A day after assuring India of a medal, the former world No. 1 duo’s bid to become the first Indian men’s doubles pair to reach the final of a world championships fell short as they lost 19-21, 21-18, 12-21 in a 67-minute battle on Saturday evening.

This is the pair’s second medal at the Worlds, having won a bronze in 2022.

On Friday, Asian Games champions Satwik and Chirag had stunned their nemesis, Malaysia’s two-time Olympic medallists Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik, in the quarterfinals to extend India’s medal streak in the tournament, which began in 2011.

The Indians, however, could not break through the resolute defence of the Chinese pair, which retrieved relentlessly and countered with precision.

Satwik and Chirag had first clinched a world championships bronze in Tokyo in 2022, a year after narrowly missing out on a medal at the Tokyo Olympics. Their second medal in the prestigious tournament also comes a year after an Olympic heartbreak at the Paris Games.

It also brought an end to India’s campaign in the tournament.

“We didn’t get really any rhythm. We didn’t start off that well. We gave away easy points (in the third game). We should have been a bit smarter. But, credit to them. They served quite well, right from the start of the third game,” Chirag said after the defeat.

“I think we could have made a few changes here and there, not really rush into the service, because

they were also serving quite deep. But credit to them that they could put us out of place,” he added.