Malaysia Open badminton 2024: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty go down to world No. 1 Chinese pair in final

In a battle between the top two seeds, India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty came up second best to the People’s of Republic of China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang in the Malaysia Open 2024 men’s doubles final in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday.

Rankireddy and Shetty, second in the world badminton rankings, lost to the world No. 1 Chinese pair 21-9, 18-21, 17-21 in one hour and 58 minutes. The Malaysian meet was the first tournament of the 2024 badminton season.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who lost the China Masters final to Keng and Chang last year, started Sunday’s final on the front foot and showcased some aggressive badminton to take an 11-4 lead heading into the break.

Both Indian badminton players worked well in tandem and quickly picked out the gaps in the Chinese team’s defence to swing the momentum in their favour.

The Indians sustained with their high-pressing game after the restart and unforced errors from Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang only helped their cause. The Indian duo closed out the opening game in just 13 minutes and set themselves up with the lead.

A response was expected from the world’s No. 1 Chinese duo in the second game and it came. Keng and Chang looked more decisive with their shot-picking and managed to build up a five-point advantage before the interval.

Following the restart, though, Chirag-Satwik began to chip away at the Chinese duo’s lead and reduced it to just one point at 19-18.

Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who lost in the Malaysia Open final last year to Indonesia’s Ardianto and Alfian, however, just about managed to hold on to force a deciding game.

Shetty set the tone for the decider with a searing smash and Rankireddy followed suit with one of his own as the Indians made their intent clear early on. The Asian Games champions broke out the big shots for the occasion and led 10-3 at one point.

Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, however, recovered brilliantly and drew parity at 12-all before taking the lead at 14-13. From that point onwards, Keng and Chang took control of the match and closed out the contest in just under two hours.

This was Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty’s fourth loss to the Chinese duo in five meetings.

Results at the Malaysia Open will count towards players’ qualifying rankings for the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Malaysia Open badminton 2024 winners

Mixed doubles: Yuta Watanabe/Arisa Higashino (Japan)

Women’s singles: An Se Young (Republic of Korea)

Women’s doubles: Liu Sheng Shu/Tan Ning (China)

Men’s singles: Anders Antonsen (Denmark)

Men’s doubles: Liang Wei Keng/ Wang Chang (China)