Badminton Asia Championships 2023 | Satwik and Chirag become Asian champions in men’s doubles, PM Modi congratulates

Dubai. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty ended a wait of 58 years to win the men’s doubles gold for India at the Asian Badminton Championships. The World Championship 2022 bronze medalist pair made a stunning comeback from down the first game to beat Malaysian pair of Ong Yew Sin and Teo Yee Yee 16.21, 21.17, 21.19. At the same time, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has promoted Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty. He tweeted, “Proud of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty who became the first Indian pair to win a title at the Badminton Asia Championship. Congratulations to him and best wishes for the future.” Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulates Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty for becoming the first Indian Men’s Doubles pair to win the Badminton Championships Asia Title. pic.twitter.com/2C6L2DG725 — ANI (@ANI) April 30, 2023 Earlier, only Dinesh Khanna had won gold for India in this championship when he defeated Thailand’s Sangob Rattanusorn in the men’s singles final in Lucknow in 1965. Prior to this, the best performance of the Indian men’s doubles team in this championship has been a bronze medal, which was won by Dipu Ghosh and Raman Ghosh in 1971. Satwik and Chirag, who won the Swiss Open Super 300 title in Basel, did not give up despite losing the first game and fought back from 7-13 down in the second game and 11-15 in the third game. This is the second title of the season for this pair. He won five career titles last year at the Commonwealth Games and on the BWF Tour. Chirag said, “I am on cloud nine. Me and Satwik had worked hard for this medal. I am happy that we won the title. I would like to thank everyone who encouraged us.” Satwik said, “It feels good to win this tournament for the first time. I am sure will win more titles in future. Will continue to work hard to hoist the flag of India. 22 year old Satwik from Amalapuram and 25 year old Chirag from Mumbai showed very aggressive game. The first game was a draw in which the Malaysian pair prevailed. In the second game too, the Malaysian pair took the lead. The Indian pair made a comeback after trailing 8.13. On Teo’s mistake, Satwik turned the match around with a powerful backhand smash. The Indian pair took the lead in 18.15. After this, the match was drawn in the deciding game by taking three points. The technical prowess of the Malaysian pair was commendable in the deciding game, who even opened up an 11.8 lead. The Indian pair widened the gap to 14.15 and then went ahead in 17.16. Chirag’s smashes on the backhand sealed the match for the Indian pair. (agency)