Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty won the Thailand Open 2024 badminton men’s doubles title, defeating Chen Bo Yang and Liu Yi from China on Sunday. Playing at Bangkok’s Nimibutr Stadium, the world No. 3 Indian duo outperformed their 29th-ranked opponents with a straight-sets victory of 21-15, 21-15, finishing the match in 46 minutes.
This triumph marks Chirag and Satwik’s second title of the 2024 season and their second Thailand Open victory. Earlier this year, they faced setbacks by losing in the finals of both the Malaysia Open and India Open but bounced back with a win at the French Open in March.
The Thailand Open is particularly significant for the Indian pair, as they won their first Super 500 title on the BWF World Tour at this tournament in 2019. The 2024 Thailand Open final was their fifth appearance in a BWF Super 500 final, and they have an unblemished record, winning all five.
“Thailand Open has been a special tournament for us as we won our first Super 500 crown here and have won many more tournaments thereafter,” said Satwiksairaj Rankireddy after their victory. “We are hoping that this victory will start another winning run for us.”
Their success at the Thailand Open 2024 earned them 9200 ranking points, expected to elevate them back to the world No. 1 rank next week. This win adds to their impressive tally of eight titles on the BWF World Tour, including the Swiss Open, Indonesia Open, and Korea Open last year.
En route to the Thailand Open 2024 title, the Asian Games champions defeated a series of formidable opponents. They overcame Malaysia’s Tan Wee Kiong and Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub in the first round, followed by a victory against China’s Xie Hao Nan and Zeng Wei Han in the second round. They continued their dominant form by defeating Malaysia’s Arif Junaidi and Yap Roy King in the quarter-finals and besting Chinese Taipei’s Ming Che Lu and Tang Kai Wei in the semi-finals. Impressively, all their wins were in straight games.
Looking ahead, Satwik and Chirag’s next challenge will be the Malaysia Masters BWF Super 500 tournament starting on Tuesday. Their recent form and series of victories set a promising tone for their upcoming matches as they continue to strive for excellence on the international badminton stage.
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