BWF World Championships: Satwik-Chirag agonisingly fall short of final after heartbreak against China’s Chen-Liu

PARIS(France):India’s top pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty settled for a bronze medal at the BWF World Championships after suffering a heartbreak in the semi-final against Chen Bo Yang and Liu Yi of China.

In a gruelling contest that lasted for an hour and seven minutes, Satwik and Chirag’s valiant fight ended in a 19-21, 21-18, 12-21 defeat against Chen Bo Yang and Liu Yi. The first two games remained a closely knitted affair, but the Chinese pair ran rampant, dominating the Indian duo in the decider.

Satwik and Chirag stepped on court number one, won the toss and opted to receive first with the former on the firing line. With a precise return of serve from Satwik, the Chinese pair managed to hit the shuttle wide as the first point went straight to the Indian pair.

With back-to-back smashes from the Chinese pair that straightaway crashed into the net, Satwik and Chirag opened up a 4-0 lead. Chen and Liu bounced back quickly to open their account and cut down the deficit to 4-1.

Within the blink of an eye, Satwik and Chirag raced to a 9-3 lead, but Chen and Liu pounced on the attacking window to reduce the India duo’s lead by 9-5. Satwik and Chirag flawlessly cut down the Chinese pair’s streak and responded with an 11-5 lead at the halfway break of the opening game.

After the interval, Chen and Liu seemingly brushed off what had happened in the past and upped the ante to script an unblemished comeback. With a watertight defence and multiple shots, they chewed up Satwik and Chirag’s lead and drew level at 12-12.

With a rapturous drop shot before exploiting the space to the forehand side, Chen and Liu took the lead for the first time in the opening game at 13-14. Realising the gravity of the situation, Satwik’s ferocious smash, which Chen was unable to return, restored parity at 14-14.

The Indian pair eventually fell at a 14-16 disadvantage after Chirag misjudged his defensive block and sent the shuttle straight into the net. With a 24-shot rally, Satwik and Chirag stayed in the game by bringing down the scoreline to 16-18. Despite their resistance act, the Chinese pair hammered the final blow to take a lead with a 19-21 win.

In the second game, the Indian pair, yet again, raced to a 6-2 advantage before Chen and Liu chopped it down and eventually levelled at 8-8. With deja vu creeping into Satwik and Chirag’s minds, they fortified their defence and seized on every attacking opportunity to take a 15-11 advantage.

Their moment of reprieve didn’t last long, as Chen and Liu came at them with the intention of pulling off another rescue act. With their robust defence, the Chinese pair cranked up five consecutive points to level 17-17. A shot gone far too long and a net dribble handed a two-point advantage to Satwik and Chirag, who converted the opening into a 21-18 win. As Chirag saw the shuttle land away from the desired spot, he celebrated the win with a fist bump.

In the third and deciding game, the Indian duo got off to a shaky start, swiftly trailing 0-3. As the game progressed, the Chinese pair increased the intensity, which was reflected in their style of play. Chen executed a stellar jumping back-hand catching Chirag off-guard, and Liu attacked the nets as the Indian pair fell behind 0-6.

Satwik and Chirag lost nine straight points in the decider before taking their first after a 34-shot rally. The flick serve continued to add to India’s agony as Satwik and Chirag continued with their catch-up play at 2-10. In 10 minutes, the Chinese orchestrated a 3-11 lead to take a step closer to the final.

Chen and Liu continued to march on towards victory without breaking a sweat, leaving a huge hill to climb for the Indians in the process. At 5-17, the fate of the game looked destined as Satwik and Chirag rued their errors and misjudgements. The Indian still fought back, pulling a couple of points, but couldn’t avoid the fate and surrendered to a 12-21 defeat. (ANI)