Hangzhou, Dec 20 (PTI) Indian men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty bowed out of the BWF World Tour Finals after losing the semifinal to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang here Saturday.
The Indians won the first game but failed to capitalise on the advantage, going down 21-10, 17-21 13-21 in the last-four contest that lasted one hour and three minutes.
Satwik and Chirag had beaten their opponents in the group stage but the Chinese pair turned the tables on them when it mattered the most.
“I think we started off quite well in the first set. We caught them in the right area where we had to. But I think in the second game, they played a bit better and we couldn’t really capitalize on the first game’s win,” Shetty said after the match.
The Indian duo was unbeaten in the group stage in the season-ending tournament but Saturday’s defeat meant that they could not become the first men’s pair to reach the summit clash of the coveted event.
They though became the first Indian men’s pair to reach the semifinals of the season-ending event.
The two pairs split the first 10 points, with the Indians targeting Liang. Patient and composed, the Indians dictated terms to move to 9–6 before a smash from Chirag gave them a four-point cushion at the break.
With Satwik once again stepping up, covering the third shot while serving to Liang, the Indians kept a firm grip on the rallies. A run of eight straight points gave them a commanding 10-point advantage. They sealed the first game at the first opportunity as the Chinese found the net again.
Good serve and precise third shots helped the Chinese take a 6–3 lead after the change of ends, aided by a few unforced errors from the Indians. A Chirag smash and a wide shot from the Chinese brought India back to 7–7, but the local favourites edged 9–7 ahead before Liang committed a short service error.
The Chinese maintained a two-point cushion at the interval.
On resumption, Chirag pounced on a weak return at the net and followed it up with a scathing cross-court smash to level it at 11–11. However, an error on return of serve and a moment of indecision cost India two quick points.
The Chinese pair stayed two points ahead at 17–15, though Chirag’s tactical awareness kept India breathing down their necks at 17–19.
A between-the-legs attempt from Satwik sailed long, handing China three game points. The home pair forced a decider with a soft tap at the net from Liang.
Wang Chang was on fire early in the third game, while Liang rained down smashes as China raced to a 6–1 lead. The Indians were repeatedly lured into lifting from awkward positions and they struggled to read the flick serves, resulting in one-way traffic as they fell behind 2–10.
Satwik and Chirag appeared a fraction late on their shots and were left with a mountain to climb at the break. Resuming at 2–11, the nightmare continued as they slipped further to 2–14.
The Indians clawed their way back to 11–19 before a Satwik lift went long. Liang then committed two unforced errors, but Chirag found the net soon after, halting the brief comeback.
Chirag admitted that by the third game, they were exhausted.
“I think, we were not so sharp and also quite tired. Also last night, we slept at 2.30 am. By the time we got done with it (match), it was almost 12.
“I think third game was surely a lot more physical because we were not as quick as the first two. In the first two, the smashes were really hard. It was like, there was a lot of punch in those smashes. And the third set, we lost that punch,” Chirag explained. PTI ATK PDS KHS KHS PDS PDS
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