World Tour Finals: Satwik-Chirag Rally Past Liang/Wang to Open Campaign with Statement Win

Hangzhou: India’s premier men’s doubles pair, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, opened their BWF World Tour Finals 2025 campaign with a gritty comeback victory over China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium on Wednesday.

Facing opponents who had beaten them in four of their previous five encounters, the World No. 3 Indian duo displayed remarkable composure and resilience to register a 12-21, 22-20, 21-14 win in a high-intensity match lasting just over an hour. The result provides Satwik and Chirag with a crucial early advantage in a highly competitive Group B, which also includes Malaysia’s Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik and Indonesia’s Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Shohibul Fikri.

The Indians began the match positively but lost momentum in the opening game as the Chinese pair seized control to take it 21-12. Satwik and Chirag responded strongly in the second game, absorbing sustained pressure and holding their nerve in the closing stages to edge ahead 22-20 after trailing for much of the game. Riding that momentum into the decider, the Indian pair asserted their dominance, pulling clear after an early exchange to close out the match 21-14.

Satwik and Chirag will next face Alfian and Fikri on Thursday as they aim to secure a semifinal berth in the season-ending tournament. Earlier on Wednesday, Alfian and Fikri went down to Malaysia’s Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik in a closely fought encounter, losing 24-22, 19-21, 19-21.

Group A features top seeds Kim Won Ho and Seo Seung Jae of South Korea, Malaysia’s Wei Chong Man and Wun Tee Kai, Indonesia’s Sabai Karyaman Gutama and Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani, and Chinese Taipei’s Chiu Hsiang-Chieh and Wang Chi-Lin.

In other matches on Wednesday, women’s singles World No. 1 An Se Young of South Korea overcame Indonesia’s Putri Kusuma Wardani in a three-game contest, winning 21-16, 8-21, 21-8.

— With inputs from IANS