Satwik-Chirag first Indian men’s doubles pair to reach Badminton Asia Championships final | Badminton News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty etched their names in the record books by becoming the first Indian men’s doubles pair to enter the final of the Badminton Asia Championships.
The Indian duo got a walkover after their opponents, the Tokyo Olympic champions Chinese Taipei’s Lee Yang and Wang Chi-Lin retired midway through the semi-final in Dubai on Saturday.

After winning the first game, Satwik and Chirag were trailing 13-14 in the second when Lee Yang and Wang Chi-Lin retired, handing the match to the Indians.
They will face the eighth-seeded Malaysian pair of Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi, who defeated fourth seeds Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi of Japan 21-66, 26-24 in the other semifinal, in the final on Sunday.

Rankireddy and Shetty had earlier made it to a historic semifinals after outplaying Indonesia’s experienced duo of Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan 21-11 21-12 in the quarterfinals on Friday. This will be India’s first men’s doubles medal at the continental event after 52 years.
PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy had lost in the quarterfinals in the women’s and men’s singles respectively.
(With PTI Inputs)