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The Korea Open finals on Sunday witnessed the Indian duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty facing Indonesia's world number one pair of Fajar Alfian and M. Rian Ardianto.
While Satwiksairaj and Chirag had beaten the pair in the last two encounters before this final, the match could very well have gone either way.
Alfian and Ardianto stormed to a quick victory in the first game with a score of 21-17. The second game was a close contest till the interval, but Rankireddy and Shetty broke away in the second half, winning that game 21-13.
With attacking gameplay and few mistakes, the Indian pair kept the momentum going in the decider to win the game 21-14 and the Korea Open title.
Speaking about their victory, Chirag Shetty said:
"It didn't start off that well, but happy that we could get that second game and keep that momentum until the very end, and extremely happy that we could get that second title after the Indonesia Open"
Adding to his partner's words, Rankireddy said:
"I mean it's been a pretty good week for us, and we played really amazing badminton, happy (with) the performance we gave, and wanted to continue the momentum. Next week, we have a tournament again, so we go back, rest, and focus. Thank you for all the support and love"
Watch the video from revsportz_official here:
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty add Korea Open title to their list of 2023 achievements
This Korea Open win comes with a barrage of records for the young Indian pair. Prior to their latest win, they were tied at 2-2 in the head-to-head record with Alfian and Ardianto. Now, they have an edge in that count.
The title is their fourth of the year, the other three being the Asian Championships, Swiss Open, and the Singapore Open. The Korea Open also marks the fourth finals of the year for Satwiksairaj and Chirag, and they maintain their record of not losing in the title clashes.
Alongside being their fourth win of the year, the Korea Open is also the third Super 500 World Tour title of their career. With this win over the Indonesians, Rankireddy and Shetty have established a 10-match long winning streak on the BWF World Tour.
The young guns of India will be back in action on Tuesday at the upcoming Daihatsu Japan Open. They will be joined by 21 compatriots, including star players like PV Sindhu, HS Prannoy, and Lakshya Sen.
