Commonwealth Games champions Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy stormed into the men’s doubles final at the French Open 2022 badminton tournament on Saturday.
The Indian badminton pair, who knocked out Japanese top seeds Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi in the quarters, got the better of South Korea’s Choi Sol Gyu and Kim Won Ho by a 21-18, 21-14 scoreline in the semis.
Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, the seventh seeds, will face either Chinese Taipei’s Lu Ching Yao and Yang Po Han or English duo Ben Lane and Sean Vendy in what will be their second-ever BWF Super 750 final as a team.
The first incidentally came at the 2019 French Open, where the Indian duo lost the title decider to Indonesian aces Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo.
Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, chasing their second BWF World Tour of the year after the Super 500 India Open triumph earlier this year, were the early aggressors and looked to test the South Korean team’s defensive chops from the get go.
The attacking intent paid off as the Indian badminton players kept their noses ahead throughout the game and took the lead in the contest.
Choi Sol Gyu and Kim Won Ho, who made the final of the Indonesia Open Super 1000 tournament recently, tried to engage the Indian pair, currently the world No. 8 in the men’s doubles world badminton rankings, to longer rallies in the second game in a bid to disturb their momentum.
But with Chirag Shetty dominating the net and front court area brilliantly, the South Korean duo found very little joy and the Indians wrapped up the match in 45 minutes.
