French Open: Satwik, Chirag storm into men's doubles final

India's top men's doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty downed Japanese pair Hiroyuki Endo and Yuta Watanabe to enter the finals of the French Open BWF Super 750 in Paris on Saturday.

Satwik and Chirag had come into the match with a 0-2 head-to-head record against the Japanese combination, having lost to them at the 2018 Indonesia Open and 2017 World Championship.

However, the world number 11 Indian pair took the first game 21-11 in 15 minutes before sealing their opponent's fate with a tightly fought second game, 25-23.

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Satwik and Chirag were the only remaining Indian representation at the French Open, after P.V. Sindhu and Saina Nehwal were knocked out at the quarterfinal stage.

They will now take on top-seeded Indonesian pair of Marcus Gideon and Kevin Sukamuljo in the summit clash.

Earlier, in the men's doubles quarterfinals, Satwik and Chirag put on a dominant performance against Danish pair Kim Astrup and Anders Rasmussen. The Indians took a 11-6 lead and sealed the first game at 21-13 by winning four points in a row.

The Danes came back stronger in the second game as they levelled scores at 10-10, 16-16 and at 19-19. However, the Indian pair won back-to-back points to seal the match at 22-20.

Satwik and Chirag had claimed their maiden Super 500 title at the Thailand Open in August this year and they will be hoping to add a Super 750 trophy to their cabinet.

The duo had reached their first ever World Tour Super 750 quarterfinal in Pairs in 2017, qualified for the semifinals last year and did even better this time around.