Men’s doubles, Satwik-Chirag 16-21 21-11, 15-21 Liang-Wang: That’s the end of India’s campaign in Malaysia. A big week awaits in India Open next week.
(Note: Scores have been corrected throughout the blog, Game 1 was 21-16 to the Chinese pair)
Men’s doubles, Satwik-Chirag 16-21 21-11, 15-21 Liang-Wang: Here’s how the third game unfolded. Think the serving from Wang and Liang was the clincher in the decider.
Men’s doubles, Satwik-Chirag 16-21 21-11, 15-21 Liang-Wang: The stunning rise of Liang-Wang continues as they reach the final in their first Super 1000 together (have to verify the stat but would trust Ms. Clark with hers!) Either way, their first major final that’s for sure. What a pair they promise to be. Satwik-Chirag couldn’t quite pull a rabbit out of their hat today in the end.
Men’s doubles, Satwik-Chirag 16-21 21-11, 15-20 Liang-Wang: Lovely defensive work by Satwik this time. Now or never as Clark says. But the Chinese pair have 5 match points... (the Indians with a frivolous challenge to buy some time).
Men’s doubles, Satwik-Chirag 16-21 21-11, 14-19 Liang-Wang: Liang with a stunning crosscourt drop. Indians did well defensively. But that was a genius shot.
Men’s doubles, Satwik-Chirag 16-21 21-11, 14-18 Liang-Wang: Wang with a stunning serve.
Men’s doubles, Satwik-Chirag 16-21 21-11, 14-17 Liang-Wang: Chirag calls for Satwik to remain in front but the pressure from Liang pays off.
Men’s doubles, Satwik-Chirag 16-21 21-11, 14-16 Liang-Wang: Goodness, how did Chirag miss that. Liang can’t believe his luck. And now Liang makes a service error though. Both teams nervous
Men’s doubles, Satwik-Chirag 16-21 21-11, 12-15 Liang-Wang: Good return from China there and the Indians are immediately on the back foot. Not looking comfortable here, SatChi. And a service error as I say that. Chirag gets the serve back, need some points here the Indians.
Men’s doubles, Satwik-Chirag 16-21 21-11, 11-14 Liang-Wang: Good rotation from the Indians, much-needed point.
Men’s doubles, Satwik-Chirag 16-21 21-11, 10-14 Liang-Wang: Chinese serving has been fabulous in the decider. Inducing so many return errors.
Men’s doubles, Satwik-Chirag 16-21 21-11, 9-11 Liang-Wang: Could only hear a “Come on!” from Boe this time. Hugely important to start well after the change of ends.
Men’s doubles, Satwik-Chirag 16-21 21-11, 9-11 Liang-Wang: Terrific flick serve from Wang and Chirag’s dive is valiant but in vain.
Men’s doubles, Satwik-Chirag 16-21 21-11, 9-10 Liang-Wang: The key really is keep the Chinese engaged in the flat rallies. When there is a lift, they simply decimate the shuttle most times.
Men’s doubles, Satwik-Chirag 16-21 21-11, 9-8 Liang-Wang: Three straight points and the Indians are back in the lead.
Men’s doubles, Satwik-Chirag 16-21 21-11, 6-8 Liang-Wang: Wang is starting to dictate at the net again, the Indians are in constant reaction mode here.
Men’s doubles, Satwik-Chirag 16-21 21-11, 4-6 Liang-Wang: Er, what? That’s got to be one of the worst reviews!
Men’s doubles, Satwik-Chirag 16-21 21-11, 4-6 Liang-Wang: Liang with a great play.
Men’s doubles, Satwik-Chirag 16-21 21-11, 4-5 Liang-Wang: Chinese definitely believe they are in this. And there is a lucky net cord to help them as well.
Men’s doubles, Satwik-Chirag 16-21 21-11, 4-4 Liang-Wang: all level at the start of the decider.
Men’s doubles, Satwik-Chirag 16-21 21-11, 1-1 Liang-Wang: The inactive shuttler has to be more active, seems to be the main message from Boe.
Men’s doubles, Satwik-Chirag 16-21 21-11 Liang-Wang: Decider time! Chirag with a brilliant point to take the Indians to the third-game. The 7th seeds stepped up there.
Men’s doubles, Satwik-Chirag 16-21 20-11 Liang-Wang: 12 game points for the Indians, three saved. The Indians would do well to close this out quickly here.
Men’s doubles, Satwik-Chirag 16-21 19-8 Liang-Wang: Simply no answer to the attacking approach of the Indians for the Chinese pair in this game. But things could still change around in the decider that is imminent.
Men’s doubles, Satwik-Chirag 16-21 16-7 Liang-Wang: Some miscommunication there from the Indians. Great service return from Chirag next point to get the serve back. Satwik leaves one well.
Men’s doubles, Satwik-Chirag 16-21 14-5 Liang-Wang: Satwik’s flick serve is a thing of great thrill. When he gets it right it is such a weapon. And then next rally a point that Chinese simply had to win, Liang ends up smashing the shuttle into the net from close range.
Men’s doubles, Satwik-Chirag 16-21 11-5 Liang-Wang: Fabulous stuff from the Indians. “Now it’s really, really good. We are playing with variations, not the same stuff. This is the movement we need every time,” says Boe.
Men’s doubles, Satwik-Chirag 16-21 10-5 Liang-Wang: Scores updated. Indecision from Liang at the backcourt.
Men’s doubles, Satwik-Chirag 16-21 9-5 Liang-Wang: Great serve, Satwik.
Men’s doubles, Satwik-Chirag 16-21 7-4 Liang-Wang: Breathtaking men’s doubles badminton... the 11th point in game for Satwik-Chirag to go up 7-4. Stunning quality on display.
Mathias Boe: More movement, little bit too much respect for them in the service stages, don’t overcover the net (to Chirag). Just need to keep moving. We know how we can handle it, come on boys. Full on here.
Men’s doubles, Satwik-Chirag 16-21 Liang-Wang: Oh, great defensive by Satwik but the Chinese pair win the point and convert the first game point. Fantastic stuff from the Chinese pair. The Indians have to fight back from a game down again.
Men’s doubles, Satwik-Chirag 16-19 Liang-Wang: Over eager at the net from Liang and the Indians win a point they had no business winning.
Men’s doubles, Satwik-Chirag 15-19 Liang-Wang: He has been great in the rallies so far, but Chirag has made two big errors here.
Men’s doubles, Satwik-Chirag 15-17 Liang-Wang: Indians lose a review, maybe taken just to pause and reflect. A great defensive block by Chirag next rally sees the Indians win a crucial point.
Men’s doubles, Satwik-Chirag 14-16 Liang-Wang: Gill Clark speaks about the battle at the front of the court between Chirang and Wang. Fascinating so far.
Men’s doubles, Satwik-Chirag 14-14 Liang-Wang: Aggression from Chirag at the net and we are back level. Phew.
Men’s doubles, Satwik-Chirag 13-14 Liang-Wang: A couple of gifts from the Chinese pair.
Men’s doubles, Satwik-Chirag 11-14 Liang-Wang: And now five straight points for the Chinese pair after the break, wow.
Men’s doubles, Satwik-Chirag 11-9 Liang-Wang: Decent lead for the Indians at the break but very little comfort to take from this cushion at the interval.
Men’s doubles, Satwik-Chirag 10-9 Liang-Wang: Finally run of points is over at 5 for the Indians. Lian with a superb serve to further close the gap.
Men’s doubles, Satwik-Chirag 9-7 Liang-Wang: First two point lead of the match goes to Chinese pair and the Indians quickly level it up. One thing clear from the early exchanges, that the Indians would do well keep the rallies flat even though that is not their preferred style either. Back into the lead now. Four straight points for the Indians.
Men’s doubles, Satwik-Chirag 5-6 Liang-Wang: One thing is certain, lifting here means the opponents are just going to pounce on it. Both teams have great smashes and attacking weapons. Liang with a stunning crosscourt drop shot as the CHN pair inch ahead.
Men’s doubles, Satwik-Chirag 3-3 Liang-Wang: Very even in the opening stages.
Men’s doubles, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty vs Liang Wei Keng vs Wang Chang: The players are on court, this could again be a cracker. The Indians are established in the top 5 now but the Chinese pairing, new on tour, are Japan Open 2022 champions. They are world No 17 at the moment. But this will be closer than the rankings gap suggests. It’s the pairs’ first meeting.
Hello all and welcome to the live coverage of the 2023 badminton season. It’s semifinals day at the Malaysia Open Super 1000 in Kuala Lumpur.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy [7] and Chirag Shetty, the seventh seeds, are taking on China’ Liang Wei Keng
and Wang Chang. The Indian pair produced a stunning comeback last night against Liu-Ou of China.
India’s QF matches on Friday:
MS: HS Prannoy 16-21, 21-19, 10-21 Kodai Naraoka
MD: Satwik-Chirag 17-21 22-20, 21-10 Liu-Ou, semifinal vs Liang/Wang
Screenshots in the blog courtesy BWF / Viacom 18 / Tournament Software