Malaysia Open badminton 2024: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty beat world champions to reach final

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty overcame the Republic of Korea’s Kang Min Hyuk and Seo Seung Jae, the reigning world champions, in the Malaysia Open 2024 men’s doubles semi-finals in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.

Rankireddy and Shetty, second in the world badminton rankings, got the better of the world No. 3 Korean pair by a 21-18, 22-20 scoreline to make the final of their first tournament of the 2024 badminton season.

With the win, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also became the first Indian badminton players to reach the final of the Malaysia Open - a BWF Super 1000 tournament.

Relying on their attacking game, Sat-Chi raced to a 5-0 lead in quick time. The Koreans brought down the deficit to just one point but the Indian badminton players managed to keep the lead. Kang Min Hyuk and Seo Seung Jae did save two game points but couldn’t stop the Indians from taking the crucial lead.

The Korean pair showcased more creativity in the second game and pulled the momentum back in their favour. They engaged in longer rallies to take a five-point lead at the interval and looked poised to draw level with a handy 20-14 lead. 

However, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty pulled off an incredible comeback to deny Kang Min Hyuk and Seo Seung Jae by saving six game points. They rattled the Korean pair with quick and flat returns and sealed the contest by winning the final eight points in a row.

This was the Indian pair’s fourth win over Kang Min Hyuk and Seo Seung Jae in six meetings. 

The Indian badminton players will take on the winner of the match between world No. 1 Liang Wei Keng-Wang Chang of the People’s Republic of China and Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi of Japan, ranked seventh, in the final on Sunday.

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