19 June,2023 07:56 PM IST | Jakarta | mid-day online correspondent
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty (Pic: AFP)
India's dynamic duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty on Sunday scripted history by winning the men's doubles title at the Indonesia Open, becoming the first pair from the country to claim a Super 1000 event.
The Indians outwitted the Malaysian world champion duo of Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik 21-17, 21-18 in an intense contest that lasted 43 minutes.
Satwiksairaj and Chirag gained initiative midway through the first game and they never really gave a sniff to their fancied opponents since then. In the second game as well, the Indian pair did not allow their opponents to break free and a four-point streak kept them ahead of the curve. The Indians seemed to be in for a facile victory when the Malaysians nullified four match points to come within sniffing distance of their opponents.
However, Satwiksairaj and Chirag, the world No. 6 pair, who won a gold medal at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games and bronze at the world championships last year, could not be denied when the score read 20-18 in their favour, and this time they converted the match point to script a magnificent win. The magnitude of the result can be gauged from the fact that this was the first time Satwiksairaj and Chirag are beating Aaron and Soh in 11 attempts. Without much ado, here is a sneak peek into Satwiksairaj-Chirag's major achievements so far.
Also Read: Indonesia Open: Satwiksairaj-Chirag reveal 'wake-up call' that put them back on track
Super 100: 2018 Hyderbad Open - Winner
Super 300: 2018 Syed Modi International - Runners Up, 2023 Swiss Open - Winner
Super 500: 2019 Thailand Open - Winner, 2022 India Open - Winner
Super 750: 2019 French Open - Runner Up, 2022 French Open - Winner
Super 1000: 2023 Indonesia Open - Winner
2016: Mauritius International - Winner, India International Series - Winner, Tata Open India International - Winner, Bangladesh International - Winner
2017: Vietnam International - Winner
2019: Brazil International - Winner
2023 Indonesia Open (BWF 1000) - Gold
2023 Badminton Asia Championships - Gold
2022 Commonwealth Games - Gold
2022 BWF World Championships - Bronze
2018 Commonwealth Games - Silver
2022 Thomas Cup - Gold
First Indian doubles pair to win a BWF Super 500+ Title
First Indian men's doubles pair to win a Commonwealth Games gold medal
First Indian doubles pair and only second from India to win Badminton Asia Championships gold medal
Highest-ever ranked Indian doubles pair (5th in December 2022)
First Indian men's doubles pair and second doubles duo to win a World Championships Medal
First Indian men's doubles pair to enter the top 10 in World Rankings
First doubles pair from India to play in the Asian Championships Final
Member of the Indian team to win the historic first Thomas Cup title
First ever Indians to win a BWF 1000 World Tour title at the Indonesia Open.
