Badminton Asia C’ships semifinal blog: Satwik-Chirag become first Indian doubles pair to reach final

That will be all for this blog. See you all tomorrow.

Men’s doubles final: It will be Teo Ee Yi and Ong Yew Sin vs Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty in the final, the world No 8 vs world No 6. There is very little to separate them in terms of H2H with the past meetings evenly split at 3-3. The Indians won in Basel not so long ago on their way to winning the Swiss Open title. When they meet, it is usually fireworks. If all four are fully fit, expect the same on Sunday.

MD SF, Chirag / Satwik 21-18, 13-14 (retd) Lee / Wang: The first Asian Championships finalist from India since Dinesh Khanna won India’s only gold in 1965. I’d still be a little concerned about the Indians’ fitness but hopefully they will be alright for a good final tomorrow. Because when it is India vs Malaysia in men’s doubles, it is usually fireworks. Ong/Teo await the Indians.

REPLUG: The firsts keep on rolling for SatChi. The first ever Indian doubles pair to reach the final of the Badminton Asia Championships.

The SatChi Factor: Satwiksairaj and Chirag Shetty’s immense importance in Indian badminton

MD SF, Chirag / Satwik 21-18, 13-14 (retd) Lee / Wang: Saw nearly entirety of Game 2 with half an eye on Chirag’s apparent niggle and then suddenly Wang suffered that nasty injury. Such a sinking feeling. The Oly champs were starting to click and now they will likely miss start of Oly qual. Cruel.

MD SF, Chirag / Satwik 21-18, 13-14 (retd) Lee / Wang: That will be all. Wang finally gets up and tries to walk it off but nope, he can’t. Back in serious pain. That’s the end of the match.

MD SF, Chirag / Satwik 21-18, 13-14 Lee / Wang: Oh no, oh no Wang has seemingly stretched his groin region and he is in a world of pain at the moment. Hasn’t gotten up since he hit the floor. This is not looking good at all.

MD SF, Chirag / Satwik 21-18, 12-13 Lee / Wang: The TPE pair into the lead now. Indians don’t look comfortable in defence.

MD SF, Chirag / Satwik 21-18, 11-10 Lee / Wang: After that concern for Chirag at the start of game 2, with some treatment for his ankle, the Indians have taken a small lead at the mid-game interval. 11-10. Couldn’t hear what Boe had to say, but I imagine the Indians would really want to win this in two.

MD SF, Chirag / Satwik 21-18, 10-10 Lee / Wang: The Indians catch up but this is a very start-stop match at the moment. In contrast to the flowing pace of the opening game.

MD SF, Chirag / Satwik 21-18, 6-8 Lee / Wang: At this stage, I’d actually be quite sure that Chirag is not at 100% and it is starting to show when they rotate. There is some hesitancy, a collision too. A futile challenge by Satwik after he is beaten by a flick.

MD SF, Chirag / Satwik 21-18, 6-5 Lee / Wang: Good review by the Indians and, after brief confusion, they are in the lead.

MD SF, Chirag / Satwik 21-18, 5-5 Lee / Wang: Chirag moving OK for now. And the Indians tie it up. Great placement by Satwik crosscourt.

MD SF, Chirag / Satwik 21-18, 1-4 Lee / Wang: Chirag did seem to move gingerly during the first rally. And immediately calls for attention. Doesn’t seem to be in too much pain but that right ankle surely bothering him. And soon enough, the TPE pair open up a good lead. This is concerning.

MD SF, Chirag / Satwik 21-18 Lee / Wang: And the Indians are in the lead. What an opening game that was. Superb men’s doubles.

MD SF, Chirag / Satwik 20-18 Lee / Wang: All out attack from Chirag and game points for the Indians.

MD SF, Chirag / Satwik 19-18 Lee / Wang: And Wang’s turn to turn on the heat. Super smash winner.

MD SF, Chirag / Satwik 19-17 Lee / Wang: A flick serve by Chirag and the Indians control a short rally to move to 19.

MD SF, Chirag / Satwik 18-17 Lee / Wang: A great smash winner but the next point, Chirag with a soft backhand error. He immediately makes up with a superb round-the-head smash.

MD SF, Chirag / Satwik 16-16 Lee / Wang: Some sensational rallies at the moment. First Chirag with great defensive work but the point isn’t theirs. Next, a superb flat exchange is followed by a superb kill by the Indians. This is one way, then the next.

MD SF, Chirag / Satwik 12-13 Lee / Wang: Another misjudgement at the backline by Chirag.

MD SF, Chirag / Satwik 12-11 Lee / Wang: Whatever Mathias Boe said at the interval, seems to have had an impact. Good start by the Indians, more movement, much more intent in their shots.

MD SF, Chirag / Satwik 10-11 Lee / Wang: Misjudgement from Chirag at the backline and it is the TPE pair with the lead at the interval.

MD SF, Chirag / Satwik 10-10 Lee / Wang: Fabulous defence from the TPE pair but the Indians eventually win the point. Great aggression from Chirag in another rally. The TPE pair still in it very much though. All very close at the moment.

MD SF, Chirag / Satwik 8-8 Lee / Wang: Oh yes, there was a service fault for height on the Indians a little earlier. They still struggle with it time to time but has gone down in frequency when they don’t play in Europe..

MD SF, Chirag / Satwik 7-7 Lee / Wang: First lead of the night for the Indians. As usual the first three shots proving super crucial in the rallies. But we are back level soon.

MD SF, Chirag / Satwik 5-5 Lee / Wang: It is worth reminding that the Olympic champions haven’t exactly had the best time on tour since then. There have been form issues, major injuries... but they seem to be returning to their best now.

MD SF, Chirag / Satwik 2-3 Lee / Wang: Really fast, this will be. And quick exchanges at the start before a good rally goes the Indians’ way.

MD SF, Chirag / Satwik vs Lee / Wang: Here we go. It’s time! For the third time, Satwik-Chirag vs Lee-Wang. A fascinating rivalry this, evenly poised at 1-1 with both teams having the greatest tournaments of their respective lives when they lost this match.

MD SF, Chirag / Satwik vs Lee / Wang: Satwik-Chirag vs Lee-Wang next up in the semifinals. And it is a fascinating rivalry. The Indians defeated them at Olympics in the group stage, and the TPE pair went on to win gold later while SatChi bowed out before knockouts. The TPE pair then defeated SatChi at Thomas Cup group stages, and the IND pair of course won gold later on.

MD semifinals, Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy vs Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin: Ong/Teo await the winners of this match.

Hello and welcome to Scroll’s badminton coverage. Today we will be tracking the semifinal featuring Indians Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty at the Badminton Asia Championships.

Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy take on Olympic champions Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin. SatChi had assured a medal after 52 years in men’s doubles category at this event after they got the better of Indonesia’s legendary Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan in straight games 21-11, 21-12 in the quarterfinals in Dubai on Friday.

Screenshots courtesy Tournament Software / Sony LIV