BWF 2022: Indian men's duo to ensure medal finish

TOKYO: Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy made history on Friday by becoming the first Indian men's pair to secure a medal in BWF World Championships after defeating Japanese duo of Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi in the quarterfinals. Playing on court 2, the Indian duo won the match 24-22, 15-21, 21-14.

The first game was a thrilling, closely contested one but Chirag and Satwik emerged victorius 24-22. The Japanese duo of Takuro and Yugo made a comeback in the second game.

They downed the Indian duo 15-21 to make things even. Chirag and Satwik faught valiantly but an exciting decider was set up. Shetty and Chirag were back to their absolute best in the final round and outplayed the Japanese winning the game 21-14 and sealing their semifinal spot.

It will also be India's second medal at the Championships from a doubles pair. The duo has given India its 13th medal at the prestigious event.

Chirag and Satwiksairaj had stormed into the quarterfinals on Thursday defeating the Denmark duo of J. Bay and L. Molhede in their round of 16 match. It took only 35 minutes for them to eliminate their Danish opposition from the competition within two straight games 21-12, 21-10.

Earlier, in the recently concluded Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham, Chirag and Satwik had also won a gold medal in the men's doubles category. They had defeated England's Ben Lane and Sean Vendy 21-15, 21-13 in the finals.

BWF World Championships 2022 started in Tokyo on August 22 and will go on till August 28.