BWF World C’ships, Day 6 blog: Satwik-Chirag go down against Chia-Soh in semifinal

Photo frame: One would imagine Satwik and Chirag must be very disappointed but they quickly had an embrace with each other and graciously greeted the Malaysians at the net too.

Men’s doubles semifinal, Satwik-Chirag 22-20, 18-21, 16-21 Chia-Soh: It wasn’t to be for the Indians as they Malaysians convert their first game point to complete a fine comeback win.

Men’s doubles semifinal, Satwik-Chirag 22-20, 18-21, 16-20 Chia-Soh: Four match points for the Malaysians now. They have raised their game when they needed to most.

Men’s doubles semifinal, Satwik-Chirag 22-20, 18-21, 15-16 Chia-Soh: Soh with an error of judgement at the back-court and the Indians claw back again. This is a tense, tense battle out there.

Men’s doubles semifinal, Satwik-Chirag 22-20, 18-21, 14-15 Chia-Soh: It keeps going back and forth as both pairs aim to get on a roll. The Indians trail by just one point now.

Men’s doubles semifinal, Satwik-Chirag 22-20, 18-21, 12-13 Chia-Soh: Satwik jumps high and smashes one through Soh’s leg. “It’s one of the most fearsome sights in badminton when Rankireddy leaps in the air and loads a smash,” says the commentator.

Men’s doubles semifinal, Satwik-Chirag 22-20, 18-21, 11-12 Chia-Soh: This time it’s Satwik who needs a change of racket mid-rally. The Indians manage to hang in and it ends up being a long rally but Chirag finds the net again eventually.

Men’s doubles semifinal, Satwik-Chirag 22-20, 18-21, 10-11 Chia-Soh: Just like the second game, Chia-Soh have a smallest possible lead heading into the third game interval. Both pairs have been pegged back by errors so far in the decider and it could come down to who does the simpler things right. The final changeover of the match is done, here we go!

Men’s doubles semifinal, Satwik-Chirag 22-20, 18-21, 8-8 Chia-Soh: Chirag puts a full-length dive but can’t get the shuttle back. The Malaysians make it two points in a row and we’re level again.

Men’s doubles semifinal, Satwik-Chirag 22-20, 18-21, 5-5 Chia-Soh: The Indians draw level as Satwik draws as error and Chirag lets out multiple roars. He’s pumping himself up and rightly so.

Vinayakk: The racket changes have had to happen a few too many times for Chirag Shetty’s liking... and hopefully he finds the right one at the start of the third game because he was off the pace in the second. He is experienced enough to know he needs to pick up, got better towards the end of the game as well. The Indians CANNOT afford a slow start here.

Men’s doubles semifinal, Satwik-Chirag 22-20, 18-21 Chia-Soh: We are going to a decider. Chirag needs a change of racket mid-point and the Malaysians manage to put a smash away into the open court. The Indians will need to forget this game quickly. Despite playing far from their best, they managed to get to 18. If they can regroup quickly, they’ll definitely be in with a good chance of winning this match.

Men’s doubles semifinal, Satwik-Chirag 22-20, 18-20 Chia-Soh: The Indians save the first game point but the Malaysians have two more coming up. Can Satwik-Chirag turn this around?

Men’s doubles semifinal, Satwik-Chirag 22-20, 14-18 Chia-Soh: The Indians win two points in a row but Chia puts a smash away after that as the Malaysians inch towards winning this second game.

Men’s doubles semifinal, Satwik-Chirag 22-20, 12-17 Chia-Soh: Just the second point won by the Indians since the interval but Chirag hits one wide again after that and the Malaysians have a five-point lead.

Men’s doubles semifinal, Satwik-Chirag 22-20, 11-15 Chia-Soh: Consecutive errors from Chirag and the Malaysians have a four-point lead. Worrying signs for the Indian pair.

Men’s doubles semifinal, Satwik-Chirag 22-20, 10-11 Chia-Soh: Chirag with another error and the Malaysians get a slender lead heading into the interval. It remains a tight contest. Chia-Soh will be determined to force a decider, while the Indians will be eyeing a straight-games win.

Men’s doubles semifinal, Satwik-Chirag 22-20, 10-10 Chia-Soh: A hat-trick of points for the Indians and they have drawn level. Satwik with a superb flick that went over the Malaysians and landed just in.

Men’s doubles semifinal, Satwik-Chirag 22-20, 7-9 Chia-Soh: A good leave by Satwik and the Malaysians end up losing another review. The shuttle had landed well out.

Men’s doubles semifinal, Satwik-Chirag 22-20, 5-8 Chia-Soh: More errors coming from the Indians in this game so far. They’re still playing with intensity but searching for their range after the change of ends.

Men’s doubles semifinal, Satwik-Chirag 22-20, 4-6 Chia-Soh: Consecutive points for Chia-Soh before the Indians pull one back. The Malaysians lead by two in the second game.

Men’s doubles semifinal, Satwik-Chirag 22-20, 3-4 Chia-Soh: The Malaysians have a slender lead early in the second game.

Men’s doubles semifinal, Satwik-Chirag 22-20 Chia-Soh: Game 1, Satwik-Chirag! Great composure by the Indians as they convert their second game point and take a lead in the match. The Malaysians only had the lead for one point in that game. No real celebration from the Indians as they head for the changeover. They really have been locked-in.

Men’s doubles semifinal, Satwik-Chirag 21-20 Chia-Soh: The Malaysians save the first game point but the Indians have another one now.

Men’s doubles semifinal, Satwik-Chirag 20-19 Chia-Soh: Chirag draws an error with his smash and the Indians have a game point.

Men’s doubles semifinal, Satwik-Chirag 19-18 Chia-Soh: Consecutive points for the Indians and they have the lead again. A solid response by them.

Men’s doubles semifinal, Satwik-Chirag 17-18 Chia-Soh: A superb rally and the Malaysians come out on top. Satwik had a few smashes in that point with Chirag asking him to keep his shots down but Chia-Soh managed to turn things around. They have a lead for the first time in the match so far.

Men’s doubles semifinal, Satwik-Chirag 16-16 Chia-Soh: We are level. Satwik-Chirag defended well in that point but the Malaysians drew an error eventually. It’s getting tense.

Men’s doubles semifinal, Satwik-Chirag 15-14 Chia-Soh: The roars from both pairs are getting louder as we head into the business end of the game. Chirag hits a backhand into the net and it’s a one-point game.

Men’s doubles semifinal, Satwik-Chirag 14-11 Chia-Soh: The Malaysians lose a challenge as the replay shows that Chirag’s smash had landed well in. The Indians lead by three again.

Men’s doubles semifinal, Satwik-Chirag 12-11 Chia-Soh: The Malaysians are fighting back. Chirag smashes one wide and it’s a one-point game now.

Men’s doubles semifinal, Satwik-Chirag 11-6 Chia-Soh: Four straight points for the Indians and they take a big lead to the interval. The Malaysians continue to make uncharacteristic errors but credit to Satwik-Chirag for being solid. They have been locked-in from the start.

Men’s doubles semifinal, Satwik-Chirag 9-6 Chia-Soh: The Indians are doing well to rush the Malaysians and draw errors. It’s a three-point lead now.

Men’s doubles semifinal, Satwik-Chirag 6-4 Chia-Soh: Consecutive points now for the Indians and they have a two-point lead. They’re mixing things up nicely.

Men’s doubles semifinal, Satwik-Chirag 4-3 Chia-Soh: Satwik puts away a solid jump smash and the Indians restore their slender lead.

Men’s doubles semifinal, Satwik-Chirag 2-1 Chia-Soh: A quick start as expected and the Indians have an early lead.

The warmups are done and we’re ready for play. Here we go!

Vinayakk Mohanarangan: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have never beaten Aaron Chia & Soh Wooi Yik. Apart from the Minions, this is another pairing that has caused the most trouble for Satwik-Chirag. But, the battles have almost always been close. Three of the 5 meetings have gone the distance. The most latest was a straight games defeat earlier this month in Birmingham and that stung the Indians a bit. This will once again be fast & furious and the Indian pairing have said they don’t want to stop at semifinals. A pair that is used to creating “firsts”, will need another one today to defeat the dynamic Malaysians.

Here’s a look at the results so far between Satwik-Chirag and Chia-Soh:

It is time! Satwik-Chirag will be up next on Court 1.

Women’s doubles: Defending champions and top seeds Chen Qing Chen and Jia Yi Fan are through to the final in straight games.

Update: Satwik-Chirag’s match will begin after the ongoing women’s doubles semifinal on Court 1.

Hello and welcome to live updates from day six of the 2022 BWF World Championships in Tokyo.

It’s semifinals day in Tokyo! After the first five days of play, the only Indians left competing in the event are Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty. The men’s doubles seventh seeds defeated defending champions Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi in a thrilling quarterfinal on Friday. Their win was historic as it secured the first-ever men’s doubles medal for India at the world championships. In the semifinals today, Satwik-Chirag will take on familiar opponents in sixth seeds Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik. The Malaysians have a 5-0 lead in the head-to-head with the Indians, with their most recent win coming at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games earlier this month. After the quarterfinal win, Satwik said today’s semifinal is going to be a “revenge match” for him and Chirag. Read more here.

Key updates from Day 5:

• Men’s doubles: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty defeat defending champions and home favourites Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi to secure India’s first-ever men’s doubles medal at the World Championships. Sat-Chi are through to the semifinals.Also read: Satwik & react after semifinal win – ‘We don’t want to stop here, want to go further’
• Men’s singles: HS Prannoy just misses out on a medal at the worlds for the second straight year after losing in three games against China’s Zhao Jun Peng in the quarterfinals.
• Men’s doubles: Dhruv Kapila-Arjun MR lose in straight games against Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan. The Daddies reach the semifinals and remain unbeaten at the worlds as a pair.

Screenshots in the blog courtesy BWF / Viacom 18 / Tournament Software

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