We held the nerves: Satwik after winning the China Masters Title

India’s men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty reached the China Masters final twice before, in 2023 and 2025, but finished runners-up on both occasions.

On Sunday, playing their third final, the Indian duo finally broke the jinx by defeating China's He Ji Ting and Ren Xiang Yu 11-21, 21-13, 21-17 and lifting the USD 1,250,000 China Masters Super 750 title.

The win marked their second title of the 2026 season and their first at the China Masters.

“Playing here is always good. We have always played well coming back from injury. In 2024, after the Olympics, we played here; we played in the semis. Then last year we played; we weren't in good shape. We played finals,” Satwik said after the win.

“Today, we kind of held our nerves. We didn't make easy mistakes in the end. So that was a positive from today's match. And we are just sticking to the game plan,” Satwik added.

Having lost the opening game, Satwik-Chirag returned stronger in the second. The duo played more aggressive shots and kept the deficit within reach before establishing an 11-7 lead at the interval.

Speaking on their game plan for the match, Satwik said: “We made a game plan before coming. We wanted to do that. If it works, then it's good. If not, we'll go back and work again. So I think that has worked today, and really happy. We kind of broke the jinx and got our second title in 2026. Really happy.”

The Indian pair’s run at the World Championships in New Delhi had ended in the quarterfinals, but a title in China will give them the confidence to go deeper at the Asian Games.

Talking about the Asian Games, Chirag said: “It feels really special. Obviously, going into the Asian Games, winning a title definitely gives a huge boost that yes, what we are working for is in the right direction.

“We will go back home, push ourselves to the limit, train for the next 10 days and go all guns blazing at the Asian Games. We want to go out there and have some fun,” he said.