Satwik-Chirag beat Chinese Taipei pair to lift French Open badminton men's doubles title
Paris/UNI: India's badminton pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty thrashed Chinese Taipei pair of Lee Jhe Huei and Yang Po Hsuan 21-11, 21-17 to lift the French Open men's doubles title for a second time here on Sunday.
Coming into the finals with an impressive win in the semifinals against the Korean pair of Kang Min Hyuk and Seo Seung Jae, the Indian pair started off the title clash in a scintillating way as they won the first game by a 21-11 margin.
The duo was locked at 5-5 midway against their rival pair, but motored past in a jiffy to an 11-5 lead at the break, gaining a solid foothold.
The Chinese Taipei pair kept the Indian pair on tenterhook as they led 11-9 at the break, but Chirag and Rankireddy found their feat and seized the next 11 of the following 17 points.
The finals ended in just 36 minutes, the shortest final of the day.
Today's IST wee hours, Rankireddy and Chirag outsmarted Republic of Korea pair Kang Min Hyuk-Seo Seung Jae in the semifinals. They defeated the reigning world champions 21-13, 21-16 to storm into their third final this year.
The duo had reached the final of the Malaysia Open but lost to the then-world No.1 Chinese pair of Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang. At the India Open final, Chirag-Satwik lost to South Korean pair Kang Min Hyuk and Seo Seung Jae.
Rankireddy and Chirag faced a stiff challenge at the start of the first game with a 5-5 scoreline, but the pair ended the first break at 11-5, winning six straight points from down under.
The convincing win in the first game gave enough confidence to the Indian pair to add firepower to their style of badminton.
Though the South Koreans offered resistance after the break, an early lead helped India pocket the match in 40 minutes.
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