Sport
India’s top men’s doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty stormed into the finals of the Li- Hong Kong Open 2025 after defeating the Chinese Taipe pair of Bing-Wei Lin and Chen Cheng Kuan on Friday. This will be Satwik-Chirag’s first finals appearance of the year.
The World No. 9 duo of Satwik-Chirag defeated the unseeded pair of Bing-Wei Lin and Chen Cheng Kuan 21-17, 21-15 to end a streak of six consecutive semifinal losses in 2025.
Seeded eighth in the tournament, Satwik and Chirag will now take on China’s World No. 3 pairing of Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang in the final of Hong Kong Open Super 500 tournament. Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang overcame Taipei shuttlers Fang-Chih Lee and Fang-Jen Lee 21-19, 21-8 in just 38 minutes.
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“Final, finally. We’ve been constantly playing semifinals and we really wanted to make the final. It’s been a while so we are extremely happy,” Chirag told BWF.
Sport First Final Appearance For Satwik-Chirag Since Asian Games 2023
The Hong Kong Open 2025 final will be first summit clash for Satwik-Chirag since winning the Asian Games gold medal in October 2023 and it serves as a major morale boost for them after a year marred by injuries, illness and personal setbacks.
The duo, often hailed as pioneers of Indian men’s doubles, had been battling to rediscover their rhythm following a challenging 12 months.
The 24-year-old Satwik endured a difficult season, missing a large part of it due to a recurring back problem and an elbow injury. His troubles were compounded by personal tragedy when he lost his father to a cardiac arrest in February 2025. Just as he resumed training, a bout of chickenpox sidelined him further.
On the other hand, the 28-year-old Chirag has been dealing with a persistent lower back injury, forcing the pair to skip several events and impacting their synergy on court.
Despite the setbacks, the duo had shown flashes of brilliance, highlighted by a bronze at the BWF World Championships, becoming only the third Indian pair after Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu to claim multiple medals at the prestigious tournament.
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