• Source:JND
Add as a preferred

India's star badminton duo of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy created history as they clinched the gold medal in the men's doubles category at the Asian Games 2023 in Hangzhou on Saturday.

The world No. 3 pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy defeated the Republic of Korea’s Choi Sol Gyu and Kim Won Ho 21-18, 21-16 in the final to clinch India’s first-ever badminton gold medal at the Asian Games.

The historic victory at the showpiece event was the fifth title of the year for Satwik and Chirag, having already won the Swiss Open, Asia Championships, Indonesia Open, and Korea Open earlier in 2023.

 

ALSO READ: India Secure 100 Medals In Historic First, Kabaddi Team Clinches Gold


The 15th-ranked Korean duo dominated the early phases and had the lead in most of the opening game.

The Korean pair had the game in their favor for the moment with a lead of 18-15 in the opening game before Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy mounted a brilliant comeback and scored six back-to-back points to take the lead.

It was a neck-to-neck contest in the second game with the India pair leading with just one point. Towards the end, Satwik and Chirag picked up the momentum with continuous points and picked up a comfortable win in 57 minutes.

This was India’s third straight win in as many matches against the South Korean pair.

Earlier, Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy had knocked out Malaysia's Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik to book a berth in the final. They then got the better of the Singaporean pair of Nge Joo Jie and Johann Prajogo in the quarter-finals to assure themselves a medal from the Asian Games.

 

ALSO READ: Shubman Gill In No Position To Play First Two Games Of ODI World Cup 2023

 

India finished their campaign in their Badminton with three medals. Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy were also part of the Indian men's team which clinched a silver medal last week. HS Prannoy won a bronze in the men’s singles event.

India’s campaign in women’s singles ended after two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu was knocked out in the quarter-finals.