PARIS (France): The star Indian duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty won the French Open men’s doubles after beating Chinese Taipei’s Lee Jhe-Huei and Yang Po-Hsuan by 21-11, 21-17 in Paris on Sunday.
From the start, the Indian pair of Chirag and Satwiksairaj dominated Chinese Taipei’s Lee-Yang. In the first set, Chirag-Satwiksairaj clinched a 21-11 win over their opponents to take an early advantage.
However, Lee-Yang gave a good fight in the second set against the Indian pair. But Chirag-Satwiksairaj were strong enough to hold the pressure and beat their opponents 21-17 in the second set to win the final match.
The victory also marked Satwik and Chirag’s second French Open title.
“FIRST TITLE OF THE YEAR. Satwik-Chirag win their 2nd #FrenchOpen and 2nd #Super750 title. Well done boys, proud of you,” the Badminton Association of India (BAI) wrote on X.
FIRST TITLE OF THE YEAR ????????
Satwik-Chirag win their 2️⃣nd #FrenchOpen and 2️⃣nd #Super750 title ????
Well done boys, proud of you!@himantabiswa | @sanjay091968 | @Arunlakhanioffi
????: @badmintonphoto#FrenchOpen2024#IndiaontheRise#Badminton pic.twitter.com/TR9ZG901SC
— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) March 10, 2024
Earlier in the semi-final round, Rankireddy and Chirag beat the current world champions Kang Minhyuk and Seo Seungjae of South Korea 21-13, 21-16 within two straight games to reach their third French Open final.
The 2022 French Open champions faced a great challenge from the South Koreans in the first game, with scores once level at 5-5. From then on, Satwiksairaj and Chirag won six points on the trot and never looked back from there, as per Olympics.com.
After a convincing win in the first game, Satwiksairaj and Chirag soon gained an upper hand in the second game as well. Though Kang and Seo tried to fight back, the early lead by the Indians helped them win the match in 40 minutes. (ANI)