New Delhi. The journey of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty to the BWF World Tour Finals has ended. This Indian pair had to face defeat from the Chinese pair in the semi-finals. In this tournament being played in Hangzhou, Satwik and Chirag performed well and made it to the semi-finals. In the semi-final match, the Indian pair easily won the first game and they were trying to become the first Indian pair to reach the final of this tournament.
After this the Chinese pair made a brilliant comeback. Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang strengthened their hold in the match and won the match 10-21, 21-17, 21-13 and made it to the finals. Even in the head-to-head record, the Chinese pair already had dominance over the Indian pair. Satwik and Chirag had defeated the same Chinese pair in the group stage, but this time the opposing pair turned the match at a crucial juncture. This Indian pair had no defeat in the group stage, but due to Saturday’s defeat they could not become the first men’s pair to reach the final of this big tournament. However, they definitely became the first Indian men’s pair to reach the semi-finals of the last tournament of the season.
Satwik-Chirag out of World Tour Finals
the competition was like this
China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang made a fast start. They took a 2-0 lead by playing brilliant shots and made the Indian pair make mistakes. By applying pressure they made the score 4-1. However, Satwik-Chirag made a spectacular comeback and changed the atmosphere. By winning consecutive points he took a lead of 7-5. The Chinese pair stopped the momentum for a while, but the Indian pair maintained control over the game and were ahead 11-6 till the break.
After the break, the Chinese pair tried to make a comeback by taking three consecutive points, but Satwik-Chirag maintained their dominance and took the score to 19-10. After this, taking advantage of some more mistakes, the Indian pair won the first game in just 15 minutes.
Takkar’s second game
The second game was a very tough match. Initially both the teams were tied, but the Chinese pair took a lead of 7-3. The Indian pair again made a comeback and leveled the score. After this, Liang and Wang again took the lead and were ahead 11-9 till the break. After the break, Satwik-Chirag once again made a brilliant comeback and made the score 11-11. But this time the Chinese pair learned from the mistakes of the first game and took the lead again.
the thrill continues
The ups and downs continued in the match. The Indian pair leveled the score at 15-15, but after that Liang and Wang won important points. Satwik’s powerful smash gave the Indian pair some hope, but at that time the Chinese pair had an answer for every shot. Ultimately they won the second game 21-17 and took the match to the decider. The Chinese pair completely dominated in the third and last game. They started with a 3-0 lead and continued to lead by 11-2 at the break. The situation remained the same even after the break and their lead continued to increase.
Although Satwik-Chirag tried to reduce the gap, the lead of the Chinese pair was very high. In the end the Indian pair had to face defeat. He ended the year without a title, although he did reach the finals of the Hong Kong Open and China Masters.
