PARIS, Oct 30: The star Indian pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty won the French Open Super 750 crown with a straight-game demolition of Chinese Taipei’s Lu Ching Yao and Yang Po Han in the men’s doubles final here on Sunday.
The world number 8 pair, who had finished runners-up in the 2019 edition, rode on their formidable attack to outwit the 25th ranked Lu and Yang 21-13 21-19 in the summit clash that lasted 48 minutes.
This was also the first time since Partho Ganguli and Vikram Singh’s triumph in 1983 that an Indian men’s doubles pair won the French Open badminton title.
The Indian pair thus continued their dream run this year, which saw them win the Indian Open super 500 title, Commonwealth Games gold, Thomas Cup crown and bronze at the World Championships in August.
It is the pair’s third world tour title, following the 2019 Thailand Open Super 500 and India Open Super 500 this year. They are also the first Indian duo to win a super 750 tournament. With this, Satwik and Chirag’s also won their first-ever super 750 and second BWF World Tour title this year.
In a battle between two attacking teams, it was Satwik and Chirag who emerged victorious as they showed better tactical acumen and hunger to reign supreme over their rivals. The Indian pair came out all cylinders blazing to jump to a 5-0 lead. They kept moving ahead, not giving any chance to their opponent to make a comeback.
Eventually, it was a great serve by Satwik that helped them to take a six-point cushion at the midgame break.
The Indian duo continued to dominate the fast-paced rallies and earned seven game point opportunities after a series of flat exchanges, and Chirag sealed it on the first chance.
The Taipei pairing needed a good start in the second game and they looked competitive initially, but the Indian duo once again ensured a six-point cushion at the interval.
However, the Indians were guilty of taking the foot away from the pedal as Lu and Yang started taking control of the rallies, narrowing it down to 10-12.
A service error from Lu Ching Yao broke the run of points, but they soon drew parity at 14-14, when Chirag went long. A couple of mistakes from Chirag, including a service error, handed the Taipei combination the lead.
The Indians, however, quickly clawed back at 19-19 after winning a lucky net chord and Yang sending one wide from the net. They moved to one match point with a towering smash from Satwik, who sealed it with another attacking return.
Meanwhile, the Badminton Association of India on Monday announced a cash reward of Rs 5 lakh each for Sankar Muthusamy and the men’s doubles pair of Satwik Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty for their commendable performances at the World Junior Championships and French Open respectively.
“Stuff of dreams,” Rankireddy had said. “Last night you’ve given me the biggest win on the tour – I’m thrilled beyond words and humbled beyond compare! Becoming the first Indian pair in almost 40 years to win a Super 750 Title is definitely the stuff of dreams!,” Satwik wrote on his Instagram handle.
“But not a moment longer to rest on our laurels, bigger goals & bigger titles are ahead – upwards & onwards to achieve them!!” The 22-year-old from Amalapuram said Kidambi Srikanth’s triumph at the French Open in 2017 inspired him. “It has been a dream tournament. We worked really hard for this. It was a different pressure, it was a big tournament and final, so feeling great,” he said.
“I saw Srikanth’s laptop that day and it had a profile picture of his French Open win, so I decided that I want that in my phone.” (Agencies)
