Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty once again enjoyed an unforgettable “… Paris Night”, winning the French Open badminton crown for the second time. on Sunday. The world number one Indian pair finished runners-up at the 2019 French Open and are crowned champions in 2022. The Asian Games champions outmaneuvered Lee/Yang 21-11 21-17 in 37 minutes on Sunday to regain the Super 750 Championship title and win their first of the season after their third summit in 2023 champion.
The Indian duo finished second in the Malaysian Super 1000 and Indian Super 750 this year and also finished second in the China Super 750 last year.
It was third time lucky for Satvik and Chirag, whose stellar performances this week reaffirmed head coach Prela Gopichand’s assertion that the duo will be favorites for gold at the Paris Olympics.
“It feels really sweet. Paris has always been special to us, we’ve always played good badminton here and it’s our second home. It’s a testing ground for the Olympics but that’s still a few months away time,” Chirag said.
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy that (winning at the Olympic venue), but we won this final. There’s another game next week, so looking forward to it.” This is India’s seventh BWF World Tour Champions (Super 300 and above), they won the title without losing a game this week.
Soon after the win, Indians celebrated in the traditional way, with Satvik holding Chirag on his lap and looking at the sky with his hands. Satvik also took the racket and started dancing.
“It all started with the Thomas Cup and it has become a habit and we haven’t danced for a long time. It was after the fourth final. We just wanted to go out and have fun and let them win points and game,” Satvik said.
“We wanted to give 100% and enjoy it. Even Mathias (Boe) kept telling us to have fun and we got our rhythm back and the momentum changed.” Satvik and Chila Ge has a 2-0 record against Li and Yang, but the Taiwanese pair come into the match having been in good form after winning the German Open last week.
“They’ve had some good weeks and they’ve beaten some good opponents and we know we can’t take it lightly, they may not be ranked high but they’ve been an awesome game. So we’re happy that we can After the initial jitters, we have a second game to go,” said Chirag.
Both Satvik and Chirag were alert and kept their attack sharp, and their defense was rock solid as well, dominating from the outset in a short and fast encounter.
Satvik and Chirag forced their opponents to make mistakes. Their balls went wide of the goal and into the net twice. The Indians led 11-6 at the break.
Lee and Young also made errors on their serves, while the Indians, mainly Chirag, made the right calls on the service line. Soon, Young dunked into the net from Satwick, and the Indian team chased the score to 14-6.
India put several shots into the net as Lee and Young tried to extend the exchange. But the Indians scrapped the plan and soon led 17-9.
Another well-placed smash from Satvik followed by a draw, ending the game with a brilliant smash from Satvik in the front court, giving the Indians 10 game points.
The Commonwealth Games champions seized their second chance when Satvik hit a cross-court smash.
Li and Yang started to attack after changing the court, leading 4-1.
As coach Mathias continued to direct from the sidelines, Chirag and Satvik quickly regrouped and rewritten the score to 3-4.
India tied the match at 5-5 when Taiwan misfired on a flick serve and then lobbed a shot into the net.
A few smashes from Satwick earned Taiwan a few points, but India held on to the lead at 8-7 with a series of steep smashes.
Lee made some good interceptions in the frontcourt and led 11-9 at halftime after the Indians were called for a foul on a double-take during a exchange.
After recovery, Li and Yang made service errors again, and the score reached 11-11.
Chirag once again played well and asked Satvik to keep the ball at the back line, with the score at 14-14.
The Indians then increased the pressure, regained their footing in front of the net, picked up the pace, and soon chased the score to 17-14.
Another body blow from Young on Satvik gave them a point, but India were soon two points away from victory after another smash from Chirag.
When the Taiwan team scored, the Indian team grabbed the match point. Lee and Young saved one shot, but then deflected the next one and the Indians celebrated in unison.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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