BWF World Tour Finals 2025: Satwik-Chirag open campaign with win over Paris silver medallists

The Indian duo had to recover from a first-game deficit to register the victory.

India’s top men’s doubles pair, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, began their BWF World Tour Finals 2025 campaign on a strong note with a gutsy comeback win over China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium on Wednesday.

Up against a pair that had won four of their last five meetings, the World No. 3 Indians showed resilience and control to prevail 12-21, 22-20, 21-14 in a high-intensity contest that lasted just over an hour.

The victory gives Satwik and Chirag an early boost in a fiercely competitive Group B, which also features Malaysia’s Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik and Indonesia’s Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Shohibul Fikri.

Satwik-Chirag started brightly but lost momentum in the opening game as the Chinese duo took control to close it out 21-12.

The Indians responded strongly in the second, absorbing pressure and staying composed in the closing stages to edge it 22-20 after trailing for the early parts.

Carrying that momentum into the decider, Satwik-Chirag stamped their authority, pulling away after an early exchange to seal the match 21-14.

The Indian pair will next face Alfian and Fikri on Thursday as they look to seal a semi-final berth in the season-ending showpiece.

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