Indian in-form shuttlers duo Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have strongly started the new calendar year 2024 as the Malaysia Open 2024 runners-up closely missed out on winning the men’s doubles title.
It was the second Super 1000 Final for the Indian men’s doubles partner Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, whose first Super 1000 title was Indonesia Open 2023 in June 2023.
Last Sunday (14 January), the second-seeded pair in the men’s doubles event, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty were battling to become the first Indian to win the Malaysia Open title as their Final contest at the Malaysia Open 2024 was the first-seeded pair Chinese Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang.
Although Sat-Chi started the Final strongly by winning the opening game by 21-9, the Indian shuttlers closely lost the next two games (21-18; 21-17) to end the Super 1000 tournament as the runners-up. Before the Final, the Indian duo didn’t lose a single game in the entire competition.
Earlier, in the Semi-final, Sat-Chi beat the latest world champions, South Koreans Kang Min-hyuk and Seo Seung-jae (18-22; 20-22). In the second game of the Semi-final, Sat-Chi was once trailing by 20-14 but fought back strongly to win that battle against the sixth-seeded pair of the tournament.
Malaysia Open 2024
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty in the Men’s Doubles event
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty started the Malaysia Open 2024 as the 2nd seeded pair.
(First Round)
vs (Indonesian) Muhammad Shohibul Fikri and Bagas Maulana: won by 18-21; 19-21
(Second Round)
vs (French) Lucas Corvée and Ronan Labar: won by 11-21; 18-21
(Quarter-Finals)
vs (Chinese) He Jiting and Ren Xiangyu: won by 11-21; 8-21
(Semi-Finals)
vs (South Korean) Kang Min-hyuk and Seo Seung-jae: won by 18-21; 20-22
(Final)
vs (Chinese) Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang: lost by 9-21; 21-18; 21-17
