By Abhishek Mishra
The “Brothers of Destruction”,Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, delivered a powerful performance to defeat the World No. 1 Malaysian pair, Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin, in the quarterfinals of the Singapore Open 2025. The Indian duo produced a dominant display, sealing a straight games victory, 21-17, 21-15, in a 39-minute battle to storm into the semifinals.
In the opening game, it was a neck-and-neck tussle with both pairs exchanging points early on. However, at 16-15, Satwik and Chirag stepped up their game and didn’t allow the top-ranked Malaysians any room to recover, taking the game 21-17.
The second game saw complete dominance from the Indian pair. Starting strong, Sat-Chi raced to a 15-9 lead and maintained control throughout. Although Goh and Izzuddin attempted a short comeback, it wasn’t enough, as Sat-Chi closed out the game 21-15 to seal the match in straight sets.
Including this match, it was the ninth meeting between Goh-Izzuddin and Satwik-Chirag, with the Indian duo now leading the head-to-head record 7-2.
“It’s a big victory for because we’re currently ranked world No. 27 right now”, Chirag said with a laugh.
This win wasn’t just about reaching the semifinals, but it was a statement. Earlier this year, Satwik and Chirag had lost to the same Malaysian pair in the semifinals of the India Open on home soil. Today, they avenged that defeat and proved that a short injury break hasn’t shaken their rhythm or hunger to win.
“We had lost to Goh/Izzuddin earlier this year at the India Open, so this win feels especially sweet,” said Chirag after the match. “I’m really happy with how we’ve performed over the past couple of days.”
The Singapore Open marks their return to competitive action after withdrawing from the All England Open in March due to Chirag’s back injury.
“We played a close game against them (Goh/Izzuddin) in India Open, but we failed to capitalise,” said Satwik. “We’re more focused on our game, not thinking much about the opponent.”
Talking about his back injury, Chirag said,: “Every day, it’s getting better. We really didn’t know if we’d be able to play the Singapore Open because we had only trained for 10 days over the past two months. I was very doubtful about my back condition. I didn’t really know how it would go but it’s really amazing that we are playing and really looking forward.”
Despite concerns about their form in this comeback tournament, the Indian pair have been in blistering touch. In the Round of 32, they dispatched Malaysia’s Choong Hon Jian and Muhammad Haikal with ease, winning 21-16, 21-13. In the pre-quarterfinals, they overcame a tough challenge from Indonesia’s Gutama and Isfahani, battling back to win 19-21, 21-16, 21-19.
They will be aiming to reach their maiden final of 2025 as they face another Malaysian pair, Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik, in the semi-final.