Tokyo: Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy signed off with a maiden bronze medal in the men’s doubles competition of the BWF World Championships 2022. The duo became the first Indian pair to win a men’s doubles medal at the BWF C’ships and also on Friday became the first Indian duo to reach the men’s doubles semi-finals.
Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy loses semi-final
In the 77-minute clash, the world number 7 Indian pair lost narrowly to Malaysia’s Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik in the semifinals today. The Indian duo won the first game 22-20 in the semi-final raising the hopes of every Indian for a top podium spot. But, in the 2nd and 3rd games, India lost 18-21 and 16-21.
It is also India’s second World Championships medal in the doubles event with Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa claiming a bronze back in 2011 in the women’s doubles.
Unfortunate to be Unlucky all time: Satwik
It was the sixth successive defeat against the Malaysian pair for Satwik and Chirag, who had lost to the same combination at the mixed team final of the Commonwealth Games early this month.
After the semi-final loss, Satwik said, “It is unfortunate to always be unlucky all the time in crucial stages. There were too many string outs and lucky net chords in crucial times, which is really irritating.”
“At 17-15, Chirag’s racquet string was out, so it is always unlucky situations for us. Maybe we should do a lot more puja and pray to God. It was a tough loss. We are a bit disappointed. It was quite close and could have gone either way but I guess a few points here and there and luck was also not on our side. All credit to them, they played a solid game,” he added.
“It was a good match. We played 95 percent, maybe we could have put more pressure on them in the second game, maybe our attitude showed that we were relaxed and they got back their rhythm. We could have grabbed those situations,” Satwik continued.
@satwiksairaj & @Shettychirag04 end their #BWFWorldChampionships2022 campaign with a historic medal. This is the result of their perseverance, determination & sheer passion
Congratulations boys #BWFWorldChampionships#BWC2022#Tokyo2022#IndiaontheRise#Badminton pic.twitter.com/fU0CQLD6pe
— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) August 27, 2022
Chirag concluded, “It is always a fresh day when you play against them. They were also a bit nervous and when we started we felt it is our day today but we should have controlled things in the second. They are quite experienced in the first four strokes and we could have kept more calm, we are little bit nervous in first four, so kudos to them they controlled their nerves better. Hope they play good match tomorrow.”
“We are right up there. We wanted to get a medal and we are happy that we won a medal but we wanted to go further into the tournament but nevertheless, there are chances as well in the future, so looking forward,” he added
The post BWF World Championship 2022: Chirag-Satwiksairaj bag historic medal appeared first on News24 English.
, International, ,