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The Korea Open men's doubles semi-finals proved to be a delightful experience for all Indian fans as Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty stormed to victory on Saturday. This marks the pair's fourth finals of the year.
Rankireddy and Shetty were facing the world number 2 pair of Liang Kei Keng and Wang Chang from China. While the Indians have fought the Chinese twice previously, Liang and Wang have gotten the better of them on both occasions.
Before the Korea Open, the duos battled at the prestigious All England Open where Satwiksairaj and Chirag took it to the decider before falling short 21-19.
The Indian pair was finally able to turn their luck around and notch a win on the post this time around. They shook their Chinese opponents with straight games victory of 21-15, 24-22. This keeps alive Rankireddy and Shetty's streak of not dropping a single game this tournament.
Satwiksairaj and Chirag were truly a powerhouse of badminton skill on court at the Korea Open. With an impenetrable defense and lethal attack, there was not much the Chinese pair could do.
Here's a video of their excellent gameplay posted by the official Instagram page of the Badminton World Federation:
Men's Doubles final at the Korea Open 2023
With this, the Indian men's doubles duo move on to the final where they will be challenged by the Indonesian world number 1 pair of Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto.
Satwiksairaj and Chirag have previously faced the first seeds on four different occasions. The head-to-head currently stands at 2-2.
However, Rankireddy and Shetty hold the advantage of having won both their most recent encounters. The last of these wins came at the 2023 Indonesia Open where they defeated Alfian and Ardianto 21-13, 21-13 in a brisk 41 minutes.
This record proves promising for Indian fans who will be waiting to see their favorite doubles duo in action on Sunday. Satwiksairaj and Chirag have won all the three finals they've been in this year, and fans will keep their fingers crossed for them to continue the streak.
