Thailand Open: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Chirag Shetty Enter Men's Doubles Final

India's Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty defetaed South Korea's Ko Sung Hyun and Shin Baek Cheol in a thrilling match to enter the final of Thailand Open 2019 on Saturday. The Indian pair took the first game 22-20, however in the second game the South Korean pair fought back brilliantly to clinch the game 24-22 and took the match into the decider. In the third game, Satwiksairaj and Chirag didn't let the Korean pair any chance and outclassed them by a huge margin of 21-9 to book their place in the final that will take place on Sunday. In the final they will face the Chinese pairing of Li Jun Hui and Liu Yu Chen.

Earlier in the tournament, the unseeded Indian combination of Rankireddy and Shetty fought valiantly for exactly an hour to get past the Korean rivals 21-17 17-21 21-19 in a quarterfinal duel. The win was Rankireddy and Shetty's maiden victory over the Korean pair of Choi Solgyu and Seo Seung Jae.

On Friday, Rankireddy along with his mixed doubles partner Ashwini Ponnappa crashed out in the quarterfinals as they lost in straight games to bow out of the tournament.

Rankireddy and Ponnappa were no match for third seeds Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino of Japan, losing 13-21 15-21 in a lopsided encounter that lasted just 28 minutes.

Earlier, Saina Nehwal was knocked out in the second round of the Thailand Open 2019 on Thursday as she lost to 17-year-old Sayaka Takahashi. Kidambi Srikanth crashed out after losing to Khosit Phetpradab 21-11, 16-21, 12-21 in the second round of the tournament.

(With PTI inputs)