Indonesia Open 2023 final blog: Satwik-Chirag defeat Chia-Soh to win their first Super 1000 title

Indonesia Open Super 1000: For Satwik-Chirag, a dream win after a wake-up call

6.45 pm: What a week for Chirag and Satwik in Indonesia. Stay tuned for our post-tournament piece, with inputs from coach Mathias Boe. That will be all for the blog.

Here are the highlights of the final.

Satwik: “Winning in Indonesia is really special. One of our dream tournaments. When we were starting, it was about at least getting an entry to play at Istora. From there, to now winning it, it’s been a long journey.”

— via BWF

Chirag’s reaction to the win:

“We played with conviction, we stuck to the game plan even though probably we didn’t score well in the first few points. In the earlier eight matches against them, we would sort of hold ourselves back, but today we stuck to the plan. We felt they are humans, they are players, and they will also make mistakes. We stuck to the plan right till the end and never really gave them a chance to come back. Even in the second game when they took a couple of points, we were like we don’t have to hold ourselves back and play safe that would have made the game a little slow and they are good at capitalising on. Am really happy and we really needed this win.”

Satwik’s reaction to the win:

“I am still happy with the way we played. It felt like a new day, playing new opponents. We were down 8-0 in head-to-head, but I wasn’t thinking much about it. I thought to myself this was a final and both teams were under pressure and whoever play good, will win. If they play good and win, we will say congratulations and go back to train. We were under control when we got a strike in the first game. I said to myself it’s our day don’t panic and just playing like any other final.”

Correction: Satwik-Chirag are not entered in Taipei Open next week. 

— via BAI / BWF media

4.20 pm: Five straight-game wins in the finals today.

Men’s doubles final, Satwik / Chirag [7] 21-17, 21-18 Chia / Soh [2]: Stay tuned for highlights, post-match reactions.

Men’s doubles final, Satwik / Chirag [7] 21-17, 21-18 Chia / Soh [2]: After going winless against Chia and Soh for 8 straight matches, what a time to get the first win. Mathias Boe had said, on when the win against Chia-Soh / Minions will come: “I don’t see a reason why we shouldn’t be able to beat them. So, hopefully soon.” And here we are. For a Super 1000 title!

Here’s how the 2nd game unfolded:

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty get busy on path to stardom

“From a pair that was out to prove themselves, which was the case at the Olympics, to a pair that seem like they belong here at the top. Dark horses, underdogs... all that is gone,” Popat said of watching them create history from close quarters.

“For me, that was the biggest change I saw when they won the World Championships bronze in Tokyo. The way they were playing, the attitude... they were very comfortable with the balance of hunger and being self-assured. They struck the right balance between aggression and calm,” she added.

Men’s doubles final, Satwik / Chirag [7] 21-17, 21-18 Chia / Soh [2]: SAT-CHI HAVE DONE IT!

Men’s doubles final, Satwik / Chirag [7] 21-17, 20-18 Chia / Soh [2]: Oh boy, oh boy. Four match points saved. Phew.

Men’s doubles final, Satwik / Chirag [7] 21-17, 20-17 Chia / Soh [2]: Oh that’s landed on the line. 2 match points saved by the second seeds. Another one saved, good 1-2-3 combo.

Men’s doubles final, Satwik / Chirag [7] 21-17, 20-15 Chia / Soh [2]: A short serve? Not called. Satwik challenges this. Is this the match?

Men’s doubles final, Satwik / Chirag [7] 21-17, 20-15 Chia / Soh [2]: A lucky net cord wow! One match point saved.

Men’s doubles final, Satwik / Chirag [7] 21-17, 20-14 Chia / Soh [2]: Aaron not happy with how quickly that return came. Match points for the Indians!

Men’s doubles final, Satwik / Chirag [7] 21-17, 19-14 Chia / Soh [2]: A good attack from Aaron on Satwik’s backhand side. The MAS pair get the serve back, now or never for them.

Men’s doubles final, Satwik / Chirag [7] 21-17, 18-12 Chia / Soh [2]: A loose serve and the Malaysians pounce. Chirag on his back on the court.

Men’s doubles final, Satwik / Chirag [7] 21-17, 18-11 Chia / Soh [2]: Another MAS error. The Indians have a smile on their face.

Men’s doubles final, Satwik / Chirag [7] 21-17, 17-11 Chia / Soh [2]: The Indians can see the finish line. Another error from the Malaysians.

Men’s doubles final, Satwik / Chirag [7] 21-17, 16-11 Chia / Soh [2]: Soh tries a slice, trying to put the Indians off. But the error comes from them.

Men’s doubles final, Satwik / Chirag [7] 21-17, 15-11 Chia / Soh [2]: Chirag again at the net! And a couple of points later Satwik with a kill at the net.

Men’s doubles final, Satwik / Chirag [7] 21-17, 13-9 Chia / Soh [2]: Chirag on fire here. What a point. Satwik has actually let his levels down just a little bit but the senior man is making up nicely.

Men’s doubles final, Satwik / Chirag [7] 21-17, 12-9 Chia / Soh [2]: Aaron Smash! He is so good to when it comes to the big jump smashes too.

Men’s doubles final, Satwik / Chirag [7] 21-17, 11-8 Chia / Soh [2]: Oh fabulous behind-the-back return by Chirag to keep the rally going. But Satwik misses a backhand at the net.

Men’s doubles final, Satwik / Chirag [7] 21-17, 11-7 Chia / Soh [2]: A fabulous defensive get from Satwik and Chirag doesn;t need a second invitation to go to the net for a kill. And soon enough, it’s a handy lead into the mid-game interval.

Men’s doubles final, Satwik / Chirag [7] 21-17, 9-7 Chia / Soh [2]: A flick serve goes long from the Malaysians and the Indians have put together a nice mini run to go up to a 2-point lead. They keep that lead with a service error from Soh.

Men’s doubles final, Satwik / Chirag [7] 21-17, 5-5 Chia / Soh [2]: A very even start to the 2nd game.

Stat alert: Four of the eight matches between these pairs have gone to three games, and in all four, the Indians won the first game before Chia-Soh fought back to win the match.

Men’s doubles final, Satwik / Chirag [7] 21-17, 1-1 Chia / Soh [2]: Oh, Soh is returning the shuttle from the floor but Satwik eventually lands a winner. Nearly took Soh’s face off there!

Men’s doubles final, Satwik / Chirag [7] 21-17 Chia / Soh [2]: Game, SatChi! The shuttle is called long, Aaron challenges the call and it is indeed out. The Indians were actually not quite ready to send the shuttle back had it landed in. But they will take it. Fairly comfortable in the opening game too, it must be said, from 3-7 down.

Men’s doubles final, Satwik / Chirag [7] 20-17 Chia / Soh [2]: Game points for SatChi. Nice rally again.

Men’s doubles final, Satwik / Chirag [7] 19-17 Chia / Soh [2]: The Indians go to 19 but the serve is back with MAS.

Men’s doubles final, Satwik / Chirag [7] 18-16 Chia / Soh [2]: WHAT A RALLY! 37 shots of speed and fury. Chirag did so well defensively! But the Malaysians win the point.

Men’s doubles final, Satwik / Chirag [7] 18-15 Chia / Soh [2]: There is another service error by Chirag, but he makes up next point with a good smash at the net.

Men’s doubles final, Satwik / Chirag [7] 17-14 Chia / Soh [2]: The Malaysians are closing in. Couple of quick points. But Soh sends a push long and the serve is back with Indians.

Men’s doubles final, Satwik / Chirag [7] 16-12 Chia / Soh [2]: Serves being exchanged here.

Men’s doubles final, Satwik / Chirag [7] 14-10 Chia / Soh [2]: Indecision from both pairs in that rally. But Satwik does well to spot a gap. The Indians have now sneaked by 4 points.

Men’s doubles final, Satwik / Chirag [7] 11-9 Chia / Soh [2]: Solid recovery from a slow start by the Indians.

Men’s doubles final, Satwik / Chirag [7] 10-9 Chia / Soh [2]: Good serve Aaron and we are back level. But that’s followed by a service error.

Men’s doubles final, Satwik / Chirag [7] 9-8 Chia / Soh [2]: Good work at the net by Soh and the run of points ends at 9 for the Indians.

Men’s doubles final, Satwik / Chirag [7] 8-7 Chia / Soh [2]: Here we go, four straight points on Satwik’s serve. And the Indians are in the lead. The last rally there saw quite a collision midcocurt between the Indians but they steady themselves and Chirag with the kill at the net.

Men’s doubles final, Satwik / Chirag [7] 3-7 Chia / Soh [2]: Very nervy start to the final by Indians. Quite a few errors already.

Men’s doubles final, Satwik / Chirag [7] 0-3 Chia / Soh [2]: The Indians to serve, Malaysians choose side. A stunning rally for the third point! Fast and furious already.

Men’s doubles final: Chirag and Satwik have often come close in the past against Chia and Soh but the win has eluded them. Their last meeting came at the Sudirman Cup, where the Malaysians were relatively dominant. A look at the past 8 meetings. Four of those have gone the distance.

Men’s doubles final: Chia / Soh almost didn’t make it to this match. With a stunning defensive poin, a 50-shot really, they had to save match point last night, And then the World Champions forced a decider before defeating Rambitan/Kusumawardana in a straightforward third game. It was a stunning fightback. Mind you, the Indians too had to fight back from a game down to defeat the Korean pair of Seo/Kang.

Men’s doubles final: Time for the one we have been waiting. Women’s doubles final is done.

A quick preview for what’s to come: It will be Asian champions Chirag & Satwik vs World Champions Chia & Soh. In case you had missed it, the Malaysians have a 8-0 H2H against the Indians, will today be the day for SatChi? The Indians are ranked 6th in the world, but Chia/Soh are world No 3 at the moment (second seeds here).

2.00 pm: In our recent interview with Mathias Boe, we had asked him towards the end. What will it take to defeat the Minions and/or Chia-Soh?

Boe: “Yeah, hopefully, soon. It’s a mental game. If you feel comfortable playing some, you play better. If you feel not comfortable playing some others, then it’s more difficult. I don’t see a reason why we shouldn’t be able to beat them. So, hopefully soon.”

Timing update: The men’s doubles final will start after the ongoing women’s doubles final, which is about to end in straight games (we think). An hour done, but a clear favourite emerging.

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Indian badminton.

It’s finals day at Istora Senayan for the 2023 Indonesia Open!

Reigning Asian Champions Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty take on the reigning World Champions Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik of Malaysia.

The Indian pair have never beaten Chia/Soh in eight meetings but today will be a good time to get that W in that Head-to-Head. It promises to be a cracking match.

If the Indians win, it will be their Super 1000 title

If the Malaysians win, it will be their first BWF World Tour Title. (Yes, they won the World Championships before winning a World Tour title).

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