Malaysia Open 2024: Satwik-Chirag lose to Chinese pair, finish second
Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang of China beat the Indian pairing of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty after losing the first set 9-21 and trailing 3-10 in third
 "Malaysia Open 2024: Satwik-Chirag lose to Chinese pair, finish second")
The Indian men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty failed to win their second Super 1000 title after they lost the final of the Malaysian Open 2024 to the Chinese pairing of Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang on Sunday, January 14.
The Indians won the first set quite comfortably, 21-9, to raise hopes of winning the final. However, in the second set, they trailed 11-5 before coming back to make it 8-11 at the mid-game interval in the second set.
On a comeback trail from 13-17, the Indians made it 17-19. The Chinese pair challenged the service call of the Indians at that scoreline, but it was futile and the Indians came back to 18-19. But then they faltered on the serve and the game point went to the Chinese and they converted it, winning the second game 21-18 and making it 1-1.
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The Indians led 10-3 in the third and deciding set. However, the top-seeded Chinese won five back-to-back points to make it 8-11 at the mid-game interval. The Chinese pairing got into the lead at 14-13 and then made it 16-14 before the Indians returned to make it 15-16.
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It came down to the Indians trailing 16-17 and then a fast rally made it 18-16 in favour of the Chinese before they made it 19-16. A drop shot at 19-16 by Wang made it four match points to the Chinese. Satwik and Chirag dodged one and made it 17-20.
A break in the game at that point as the umpire asked Chirag to wait for his serve. And the Chinese made it count by winning the decider 21-17 after being 3-10 in that set.
Both pairings will now be part of the India Open Super 750 tournament, starting Tuesday, January 17, at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall of the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex in New Delhi.