NB In Pics | Historic gold for Satwik-Chirag, become 1st ever Indian men's doubles pair to win Badminton Asia Championship!
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Ace doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty scripted history in Indian badminton’s books on Sunday, becoming the first from the country after Dinesh Khanna to be crowned champions at the Badminton Asia Championships.
It was India's first gold medal at the continental tournament in 58 years.
The 2022 World Championships bronze medallists pair scripted a sensational comeback after an opening game reversal to edge past Malaysian combination of Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi 16-21, 21-17, 21-19 in a nail-biting final to accomplish a magnificent feat in the continental championship.
GOLDEN BOYS!
— SAI Media (@Media_SAI) April 30, 2023
🇮🇳's pride and 🔝 MD pair Sat-Chi wins the coveted Gold🥇 at the Badminton Asia Championships, 2023 💯
The historic 🥇 medal is 2️⃣nd for 🇮🇳 after 1965, 1️⃣st in MD category 🥳🥳
Cheers guys! Proud of you 👏🏆 pic.twitter.com/1qJ5iPZFeq
Satwik and Chirag, who claimed the Swiss Open Super 300 title in Basel, showed tremendous grit as they never gave up after losing the first game and being 7-13 and 11-15 in the second and third game to secure the first gold for India in doubles.
It was the second title of the season for Satwik and Chirag, who continued to remain the best shuttlers for the country on display this season.
Besides the Asia Championships title, Satwik and Chirag also won the 2022 Commonwealth Games and five career titles on the BWF World Tour.
The two pairs came into the summit clash after sharing the honours in six meetings, with Satwik and Chirag coming up trumps in the semi-final of the Swiss Open in March this year.