Three matches and three elite pairs outclassed. At the BWF World Tour Finals 2025 in Hangzhou in China, the third-seeded Indian pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty turned the ‘Group of Death’ into their personal playground with tactical maturity and explosiveness.
Just days after stunning China’s Paris Olympics silver medallist Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang, and outclassing Indonesia’s Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Fikri, the former World No. 1 pair dismantled their long-time nemesis Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik in a thrilling final group stage clash. They won 17-21, 21-18, 21-15. The Indians topped Group B and moved into the last-four with a 3-0 record. Satwik and Chirag also became the first Indian men’s doubles pair to reach the semi-finals of this event. On Saturday, the Indians will take on Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang of China.
Proceedings began with fast-paced exchanges from both sides, which resulted in a neck-and-neck battle. At 4-4, Chirag smashed deep to build pressure, but unforced errors from Satwik in front-court deceptions allowed their opponents to draw level. A smash from Chia gave the Malaysians a narrow 11-10 lead at the interval. After the break, capitalising on Indian errors, Chia-Soh built a sizeable lead with their deceptive flat game, making it 15-10. Satwik-Chirag tried to claw back with deft returns but some flat drives and sharp smashes from Chia-Soh helped them close out the opening game.
The second game started in similar fashion, with both pairs exchanging points while capitalising on errors, before a 47-shot rally ended with a Chirag smash, which saw the Indians take an 11-9 lead at the break. After the change of ends, an unsuccessful challenge from Chirag saw the scores level, before a 400 kmph smash from Chia handed Malaysia the lead. At 13-15, the Indians went on the attack with sharp and deep smashes, winning four consecutive points, and built pressure. They held their ground and forced the Malaysians into errors, earning three game points. Chirag closed out the game with a rocket-like smash.
In the final game, the Malaysians took a 3-0 lead. The Indians responded with deft returns and Satwik intercepted Soh’s flick serves, forcing the Malaysians into a defensive shell and led 11-10 at the interval. The Indians then surged ahead, excelling in their fast and attacking game. They unleashed a series of smashes, which broke the rhythm of their opponents and kept them guessing. On 20-15, a failed return from Chia-Soh handed victory to Satwik-Chirag.
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