India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty beat Malaysia’s Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi to reach the men’s doubles final at Swiss Open, a BWF World Tour Super 300 event, in Basel on Saturday.
Commonwealth Games champions and World Championships bronze medallists Satwik and Chirag won the semifinal contest against third-seeded Ong and Teo 21-19, 17-21, 21-17 in an hour and nine minutes.
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The second-seeded Indian pair will take on China’s Ren Xiang Yu and Tan Qiang in the summit clash on Sunday.
The Malaysians had a 3-2 head-to-head advantage over Satwik and Chirag but the early stages of the match were dominated by the Indian pair. The duo led 11-8 at the mid-game interval before extending it to 16-11. However, Ong and Teo won six consecutive points in a row to turn things around. At 19-17, the Malaysian pair was just two points away from sealing the opening game but this time, the Indian pair went on a streak of four straight points to steal it 21-19.
Ong and Teo led the second game right from the beginning and never let the advantage go, closing it eventually at 21-17.
Both pairs were neck-to-neck in the initial stages of the decider before the Indians won five straight points from six-all to lead at the mid-game interval. Satwik and Chirag further strengthened their position, extending their lead to 15-8. Trailing 11-18, the Malaysians tried their best to make a comeback but the Indians held their nerve to close the decider 21-17 and seal a spot in the final.
