Dubai, April 30 (IANS) Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty made history on Sunday by winning India’s second gold medal in the Badminton Asia Championships, beating Malaysia’s eighth seeds Yew Sin Ong and Ee Yi Teo in the men’s doubles final here.
Satwiksairaj and Chirag defeated the Malaysians Yew Sin Ong and Ee Yi Teo 16-21, 21-17, 21-19 in the final in the 2023 edition, coming back from losing the first game to win the next two games and win the historic gold medal.
This was India’s second gold medal in the Asian Badminton Championship after Dinesh Khanna bagged the men’s singles gold in 1965. They were also the first Indian pair to reach the final of the Asian Championship and went on to win the gold medal.
Satwik and Chirag, who won the bronze medal in Men’s Doubles at the 2022 World Championships in Tokyo, have claimed two bronze medals in the Asian Team Championships (2016, 2020).
The gold on Sunday could be considered the biggest medal in their career thus far as the Indian duo has won five titles on the BWF World Tour and have twice finished runners-up.
–IANS
bsk
