India’s Chirag Shetty (R) and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (L) hold the trophy during the medals ceremony after winning their men’s doubles final match against China’s Chen Bo Yang and Liu Yi at the 2024 Thailand Open badminton tournament in Bangkok on May 19, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AFP
India’s star men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty continued its dream run as it secured the Thailand Open Super 500 title by outwitting Chen Bo Yang and Liu Yi of China in the final here on Sunday.
The World number three Indian duo, which had claimed its first major title in Thailand in 2019, prevailed 21-15 21-15 over Liu and Chen, ranked 29th, in 46 minutes to receive a major boost ahead of the Paris Olympics.
It was the second title of the season for the Asian Games champions after the French Open super 750 which they won in March. The duo had finished runner-up at the Malaysia Super 1000 and India Super 750.
“Bangkok has always been special for us, we won our first super series title back in 2019 here and also the Thomas Cup, so it has been a special place and so happy to be here,” Chirag said after the win.
For Satwik and Chirag, the title comes at a major juncture of their career as they had some low returns in the last couple of tournaments.
The Indian pair lost in the second round at All England Championships and then missed the Asia Championships due to an injury to Satwik.
The Thomas Cup campaign was also not too fruitful as they lost a couple of narrow matches to top pairs.
