Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Chirag Shetty Clinch Historic Korea Open Title

History was written on Sunday as India's men's doubles pair in badminton Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty clinched their first Korea Open title with win over world no. 1 Indonesian duo Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto in a thrilling 3-game final. Satiwk and Chirag won 17-21, 21-13, 21-14 to clinch the Korea Open 2023 title in Yeosu, Korea on Sunday.

This is the third Super 500 title of their career so far after Thailand Open 2019 and Yonex Sunrise India Open 2022 and third BWF World Tour title in 2023 as well, having previously won Swiss Open 2023 (Super 300) and Indonesia Open 2023 (Super 1000) earlier this year.

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Satwik-Chirag win their 3__rd #BWFWorldTour Super 500 title _

_: @badmintonphoto @himantabiswa | @sanjay091968 | @lakhaniarun1 #KoreaOpen2023#IndiaontheRise#Badminton pic.twitter.com/t0osXuHCFS — BAI Media (@BAI_Media) July 23, 2023

The Indian pair started the game on bad note. They lost the first round 17-31 to the Indonesians. But this has been the feature of their game for the last couple of years ow. They know how to stage a fightback and this is exactly what they did here too. Satwiksairaj and Chirag bounced back strong to win the second game 21-13. In the final round, they closed the game at 21-14. They maintained the lead throughout the match, putting pressure on the Indonesians. They had 7-3 lead which was reduced by 1 point at break with score reading 11-8. The Indian pair showed great levels of fitness and temperament to pull off a stunning come-from-behind victory.

Earlier, Satwik and Chirag had beaten second-seeded Chinese pair Wang Chang and Liang Wei Keng 21-15, 24-22 in the semi-finals to book the spot in the final. This has been an incredible year for Satwik and Chirag. With less than a year to go for Paris Olympics, chances look bright for a medal from badminton.

Himanta Biswa Sarma, the president of Badminton Association of India (BAI) congratulated the Indian pair on the wi. Sarma wrote on his Twitter: "You made us all proud with your hatrick of Super 500 wins this year: Switzerland, Indonesia, and now South Korea. We not only enjoyed your superb performance but also the victory dance thereafter. Keep it up!"