Korea Open 2023 badminton: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty beat world No. 1 duo to win men’s doubles title

The Indian pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty came from behind to win the men's doubles title at the Korea Open 2023 badminton tournament in Yeosu on Sunday.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty beat Indonesian top seeds Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto, world No. 1 in the badminton rankings, by a 17-21, 21-13, 21-14 scoreline in the title decider at the Jinnam Stadium.

This was Satwik and Chirag’s seventh title on the BWF World Tour. The Indian duo, who won the Swiss and Indonesia Open titles this year, have now been unbeaten on the BWF World Tour for 10 matches.

Former world champion PV Sindhu is the only other Indian to clinch the Korea Open title, clinching the title in 2017.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, the world No. 3 and third seeds at the BWF Super 500 tournament, made a slow start to the match and fell 19-10 behind. A host of unforced errors didn’t help their cause.

The Indian badminton players picked up their game as the match progressed and continued chipping away at the Indonesian pair’s lead but it was a tad too late to salvage the opening game.

The second game saw a much better start from Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who took an 11-8 lead going into the interval. The Indians only upped the ante after the restart and forced a decider.

Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto, the reigning All England and Malaysia Open champions, looked to find a response to the Indians’ aggressive play in the third game but Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty showed a lot of maturity to deny the more-experienced Indonesians.

The Indians took an 11-8 lead into the break and kept their noses ahead to upset the world No. 1s in a 62-minute affair. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have now beaten Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto in three of their five head-to-head clashes.

The result also means Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have won their last five finals on the BWF World Tour. The Indian pair last lost a title decider at the French Open 2019 against another Indonesian pair, Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo.

Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu, meanwhile, was ousted in the opening round after the Indian went down to Chinese Taipei’s Pai Yu Po on Wednesday.

Results at the Korea Open count towards players’ qualifying rankings for the Paris 2024 Olympics. The qualification window for badminton started on May 1 this year.

Indian shuttlers will be next in action at the Japan Open next week.