Satwik-Chirag end two-year title drought with Singapore Open men’s doubles title win

SINGAPORE: India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty ended their two-year title drought after they clinched the Singapore Open BWF World Tour Super 750 title with a come-from-behind win over Indonesia’s Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Fikri in the men’s doubles final here on Sunday.

The fourth-seeded Indian combination dominated the summit clash after losing the opening game against the third-seeded Indonesian pair to win 18-21, 21-17, 21-16 in an hour and 13 minutes to become the first Indian doubles combination to clinch the Singapore Open, according to a release.

The Singapore Open triumph will be the third Super 750 crown for the Indian combination, having won the French Open in 2022 and 2024. They had also won the Indonesia Super 1000 title in 2023.

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Satwik and Chirag, who last won a title on the BWF World Tour at the Thailand Open 2024, have been in good form since playing an important role in India’s bronze medal-winning performance in the Thomas and Uber Cup in May. They then reached the finals of the Thailand. It opened earlier this month and followed it up with a title-winning show here this week.

Having ended world champions Kim Won Ho and Seo Seung Jae’s 34-match unbeaten run in the semifinals, Satwik and Chirag started the final by opening up a 5-2 lead, but their Indonesian opponents then kept pace with them to pocket the game.

The Indians then relied on their attacking instinct to win six straight points from 8-8 to take control of the second game. Though Alfian and Fikri managed to save two game points, they could not avoid the decider.

With the momentum firmly in their favour, the Indians opened up an 11-5 lead. The Indonesians did close the gap at 11-12, but the eventual champions once again found that additional gear to earn five match points, converting the second to kick off their trademark celebrations.

“I am a bit numb today, as we have won a title after a gap of two years. Before coming here, we were a bit nervous because we had not done very well here in the past. But this week was special,” said Satwik after the title triumph. (ANI)