Korea Open 2023: Satwik-Chirag defeats China's Liang-Wang, seals place in final

India's highest-ranked men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, on Saturday, dished out a superlative performance against world no. 2 Chinese pair of Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang in the semifinal of Korea Open Super 500 to reach their second consecutive final on the BWF World Tour.

Last month, Satwik-Chirag won the Indonesia Open, their maiden Super 1000 title.

In an intense match, the world no. 3 Indian duo held their nerves till the last minute to overwhelm the Lian-Wang pair 21-15, 24-22 in 40 minutes to register their first win against the Chinese combination at Jinnam Stadium in Yeosu, South Korea.

Satwik-Chirag did not have to toil very hard to take the lead in the first game. The pair used smashes and half-smashes well to their advantage. In the net as well, the Indians made little error.

Close fight in 2nd game

In the second game, Liang-Wang took the lead early before Satwik-Chirag clawed back to take an 11-8 lead at the interval, controlling the net and baseline.

The Chinese duo, however, left no space for breathing for the Indians. They levelled the parity at 18-18 and then at 19-19 and 20-20, with Liang-Wang targeting the Indians' body and using flat crosscourt smashes to trouble Satwik-Chirag as their returns hit the net.

Liang-Wang kept the fight on despite trailing for a major part of the game and saved three match points in the second game before Rankireddy's over-the-net smash saw the Indians through to the final.

In their previous two meetings, the Indians lost to Liang-Wang in three-setters earlier this year.

Satwik-Chirag will face the winner of the second semifinal between Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto and Kang Min Hyuk- Seo Seung Jae in the final on Sunday.