India’s men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj
Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty created history at Delhi’s KD Jadhav Hall on
Sunday when they defeated three-time world champions Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra
Setiawan of Indonesia to win the India Open 2022 badminton title. Satwiksairaj and Chirag
became the first men’s team from the country to win the Yonex-Sunrise India
Open.

Also Read: Tokyo Olympics: Shuttlers Chirag-Satwik win but fall short of knockouts

The world No. 10 Indian pair, which had won
its first Super 500 tournament in Thailand in 2019, upset the top-seeded
Indonesian pair 21-16 26-24 in 43 minutes to make a rampaging start to the new
season.

Coming into the match with a 1-3
head-to-head record, Satwik and Chirag dished out a brave effort against the Indonesian
pair and staved off a fightback to reign supreme in the final.

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From almost missing the tournament
following a false COVID positive result to winning the title, life has come
full circle for the Indian pair as they accumulated valuable ranking points
ahead of a busy season, which comprises some big-ticket events such as the
Commonwealth Games and Asian Games.

Satwik and Chirag had won the Thailand Open
Super 500 title in 2019, besides reaching the finals at French Open Super 750
the same year.

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The duo also claimed the silver medal at
the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, besides winning the Hyderabad Open Super 100
and finishing runners-up at Syed Modi International in 2018.

Satwik and Chirag also played a crucial
role in India earning the historic mixed team gold medal in the 2018
Commonwealth Games.

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The Indian pair also had qualified for the
Tokyo Olympics last year but couldn’t cross the group stage despite winning two
out of three games.

On Saturday, two-time Olympic medallist PV
Sindhu was upset by a little-known Thailand shuttler Supanida Katethong. The
world No. 33 defeated top seed and former world champion PV Sindhu 21-14, 13-21,
21-10 in just under an hour to progress to her maiden BWF World Tour tournament
final.