Yeosu (South Korea): Asian Champions Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty came from behind to beat World No. 1 Indonesian duo Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto 17-21, 21-13, 21-14 in a thrilling three-game final to clinch the Korea Open 2023 men’s doubles title, here Sunday.
This is the third Super 500 title of Satwik and Chirag’s career so far after Thailand Open 2019 and India Open 2022. Overall, it is their seventh title on the BWF World Tour.
It is also the third BWF World Tour title in 2023 for the Indian duo, having won Swiss Open 2023 (Super 300) and Indonesia Open 2023 (Super 1000) earlier this year.
In the final Sunday, Satwik and Chirag, the World No. 3 pair, made a slow start to the match and fell 19-10 behind. They picked up their game as the match progressed and continued chipping away at the Indonesian pair’s lead but it was a bit too late to salvage the opening game.
In the second game, the Indians made a much better start and took an 11-8 lead going into the interval. They upped the ante after the restart and forced a decider.
Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto, the reigning All England and Malaysia Open champions, looked to find a response to the Satwik and Chirag’s aggressive play in the third game but the Indians showed a lot of maturity, kept their noses ahead to upset the world No. 1s in a 62-minute affair at the Jinnam Stadium.
With this, Satwik and Chirag have now beaten Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto in three of their five head-to-head clashes.
The result also means Satwik and Chirag have won their last five finals on the BWF World Tour. The Indian pair last lost a title decider at the French Open 2019 against another Indonesian pair, Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo.
IANS
