China Masters 2024: Satwik-Chirag make semifinal exit, Indian campaign ends

The Indian men's doubles pairing of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty made a semifinal exit at the China Masters 2024 in Shenzhen, China on Saturday.

Playing on their first BWF World Tour event since their quarterfinal exit from the Paris Olympics in August, sixth-seeded Satwik and Chirag went down to Seo Seung Jae and Jin Yong of South Korea (18-21, 21-14, 16-21) in the semifinals.

Solid defensive approach vs aggressive attack

In the first game a neck-on-neck battle prevailed as both the pairs were playing a solid game but a few unforced errors by the Indian pair, including a couple of service errors, helped Seo-Yong to claim the first game, 18-21.

Satwik and Chirag - the World No. 9 - bounced back in the second game with their aggressive play as the duo grabbed most of the opportunities and forced the decider by winning the game 21-14.

In the decider, the Koreans, however, managed to find the gaps in the Indians' attacking game as they played with a low defensive posture, enabling them to retrieve most of the Indians' booming smashes. With their most potent source of points being negated, Satwik and Chirag started looking vulnerable and made unforced errors.

This change in tactics from the Korean pair made Satwik-Chirag desperate in the final few points, and they rushed to kill the rallies in search of quick points. But a hurried approach to the game meant they made a lot of silly errors on the net and ended up losing 16-21 and eventually conceded the chance to reach their second successive final at the China Masters Super 750.

With their defeat, India's campaign in the China Masters came to an end. Satwik and Chirag were the only Indian shuttlers to reach the semifinals of the event.