Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty delivered a scintillating performance on Saturday, May 16, to seal their spot in the final of the Thailand Open at the Nimibutr Stadium in Bangkok.
In a grueling 88-minute battle where both pairings fought their hearts out, Satwik-Chirag – the tournament’s top seeds – overcame a nervous start to beat Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin 19-21, 22-20, 21-16 and reach their third Thailand Open final.
Fore Indian duo, who won their first Super 500 title at the Bangkok event back in 2019, this would be their first shot at a title since September 2025, when they finished runners-up at the China Masters. Satwik-Chirag’s last World Tour title came in May 2024, exactly two years ago.
Even as Satwik and Chirag have been remarkably consistent since their 2024 Paris Olympics quarterfinal exit, they could not win a title.
With them reaching the Thailand Open final now, this is their chance to end a two-year wait for a BWF World Tour title.
In a sign of their return to form and fitness – with the aggression and confidence back in their game – after a tumultuous phase that forced them to stay on and off the tour due to injuries, Satwik losing his father, and the heartbreak of the Paris Olympics forcing them to slip out of the top 20, the duo – India’s most potent business-end shuttlers – are now in contention to end the title drought.
After losing a closely fought opening game against Goh and Nur, Satwik and Chirag started the second game with a renewed vigor, retaining their lead for the most part. But Goh and Nur put up a spirited fight to narrow the Indians’ lead to 18-16. Even as Satwik-Chirag got a cushion of two game points at 20-18, Goh and Nur neutralized the game at 20-20. Satwik held his nerves and won two quick points with smash drops to deny the Malaysians a straight-game win.
In the decider, Satwik and Chirag caught Goh and Nur in a mid-court puddle, fetching constant lifts and finishing with jump smashes. The Indians went 13-6 up in the decider, making things easier for themselves, and eventually earned five match points.
The Malaysians managed to save a match point. Chirag would soon make amends for the error by leaving Goh and Nur scrambling on one side, wrongfooting them to place the shuttle in the other half and seal the victory.
This was the Indian pair’s eighth win over Goh and Nur in 10 meetings.
Consistency lacking a title
It is not that Satwik and Chirag were off the radar. Despite the issues, they still managed to achieve incredible feats. At the BWF World Championships last year, they achieved the rare feat of becoming India’s only male shuttlers to win a medal twice before ending the season with another bronze at the BWF World Tour Finals. Since the start of 2025, they have played with remarkable consistency, reaching the semifinals or better in 12 of the 23 tournaments they have played so far.
But expectations were high for them, given that they had set the benchmark by winning nine World Tour titles, the Thomas Cup as well as Asian Games gold – no Indian shuttlers besides Satwik and Chirag have managed to win the Asian Games doubles gold to date.
Despite their consistency, the missing title kept them under the scanner. With them recently complaining of not being recognized enough despite world-class performances and winning trophies at the toughest tournaments, this performance at the Thailand Open showed they are encouraged by the response they received on the internet. “I saw almost 90 per cent positive reactions. That is a good sign,” Satwik said recently recognizing the feedback on social media.
Now, a title at the Super 500 event will boost their confidence in an important year featuring the World Championships in New Delhi and the Asian Games, where they head in as the defending champions. Besides this, Satwik and Chirag will also hope to settle the score against China, who beat India at the recently concluded Thomas Cup and also forced India to settle for the silver medal in the Asian Games team event last time.
Satwik-Chirag will face the winners of the second semifinal between Leo Rolly Carnando-Daniel Marthin and He Ji Ting-Ren Xiang Yu in the final on Sunday.
