Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (left) and Chirag Shetty pose on the podium. -AFP
SHUTTLERS Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty were dancing with joy after capturing a historic gold for India in the Asian Games.
The pair faced a tough fight especially in the first game against South Korea’s surprise finalists, world No. 15 Choi Sol-gyu-Kim Won-ho, but stood up to the challenge magnificently to claim a 21-18, 21-16 victory in the final at the Binjiang Gymnasium in Hangzhou yesterday.
In doing so, world No. 3 Satwiksairaj-Chirag became the first Indian shuttlers to win gold in the Asiad and are set to move up as the world No. 1 pair for the first time when the new ranking list released on Tuesday.
They were in the team that finished second to China (2-3) in a thrilling final and contributed a point after stunning China’s world No. 2 Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang 21-15, 21-18.
The Indian pair continued their fine form in the individual event by impressively beating Indonesia’s world No. 11 Leo Rolly-Daniel Marthin and Malaysia’s 2022 world champions Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik en route to the final before clinching the title.
The gold crowned a glorious year for Satwiksairaj-Chirag after they had also captured the Swiss, Indonesian and Korean Opens, and the Asian Championship titles.
The Indians have emerged as one of the best pairs in the world in the past two years after showing vast improvement under the coaching of Denmark’s former Olympics silver medallist Mathias Boe.
Meanwhile, in the mixed doubles, China’s world No. 1 Zheng Siwei-Huang Yaqiong successfully defended their title after beating Japan’s world No. 2 Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino 21-15, 21-14.
Despite settling for second best, Watanabe-Higashino became the first Japanese mixed doubles pair to win a silver in the Asiad.
In the men’s singles, China’s Li Shifeng overcame compatriot Shi Yuqi 23-21, 21-13 to capture the gold in a repeat of the All-England final in March.
FINAL RESULTS
Men’s singles: Li Shifeng (Chn) bt Shi Yuqi (Chn) 23-21, 21-13.
Men’s doubles: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty (Ind) bt Choi Sol-gyu-Kim Won-ho (Kor) 21-18, 21-16.
Women’s singles: An Se-young (Kor) bt Chen Yufei (Chn) 21-18, 17-21, 21-8.
Women’s doubles: Chen Qingchen-Jia Yifan (Chn) bt Baek Ha-na-Lee So-hee (Kor) 21-18, 21-17.
Mixed doubles: Zheng Siwei-Huang Yaqiong (Chn) bt Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino (Jpn) 21-15, 21-14.
