BWF World Championships 2022: Satwik-Chirag script history, assured of India’s first-ever men’s doubles medal

Tokyo, August 26: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty scripted history on Friday (August 26) as the pair assured themselves of a medal, the first-ever men's doubles medal for India in the BWF World Championships.

Seventh-seeded Satwik-Chirag pair defeated the defending champions Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi of Japan to reach the semifinals of BWF World Championships 2022 at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan.

The Indian pair secured a hard fought 2-1 (24-22, 15-21, 21-14) win over the second-seeded Japanese pair in the quarterfinals match that lasted for an hour and 15 minutes.

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The first game was a thriller and a closely contested one but Chirag and Satwik claimed the game 24-22. The Japanese duo of Takuro and Yugo, however, made a comeback in the second game, downing the Indian duo 15-21.

Shetty and Chirag were back to their absolute best in the final game as the Indian pair outplayed the Japanese pair to win the game 21-14 and sealed their semifinal spot.

The Commmonwealth Games 2022 gold-winning Indian duo, who are assured of at least a bronze medal now, will next face Malaysian pair Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik in the last 4 match on Saturday (August 27).

As mentioned earlier, Satwik-Chirag pair has assured the first-ever men's doubles medal for India at the World Championships and the second doubles medal after Ashwini Ponnappa-Jwala Gutta had won the women's doubles medal in 2011. This will also be the 13th medal for India in the BWF World Championships.

Prannoy and Kapila-Arjun pair dream run ends

However, there was disappointment in men's singles as HS Prannoy, who stunned compatriot Lakshya Sen in the round of 16, suffered a 1-2 (21-19, 6-21, 18-21) loss in the quarterfinal against China's Zhao Junpeng.

Earlier on Friday (August 26), the other Indian men's doubles team Dhruv Kapila and MR Arjun saw their brilliant run end in the quarterfinals after a loss to third seeded Indonesian pair Hendra Setiawan and Mohammad Ahsan.

Kapila-Arjun pair, who had earlier in the tournament upset Denmark's eighth seeded Kim Astrup and Anders Rasmussen, suffered a straight games (8-21, 14-21) loss to the Indonesian pair in the last 8 match that lasted for just 29 minutes.

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Earlier on Thursday (August 25), Saina Nehwal crashed out of the competition after losing to Thailand's Busanan Ongbamrungphan in her round of 16 match. Playing on court 2, she lost the match by 21-17, 16-21, 21-13.

Nehwal, who was India's hope in women's single after PV Sindhu missed the tournament through injury, had moved into the round of 16 after her second-round opponent, Nozomi Okuhara pulled out of the tournament due to an injury, giving the Indian a bye.