Satwik-Chirag pairing qualifies for BWF World Tour Finals

Bali: World no 11 duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty has become the first Indian men’s doubles pair to qualify for the season-ending BWF World Tour Finals starting here on Wednesday.

Satwik and Chirag had finished at the semifinals of the Indonesia Open last week but made the cut after Japanese pairing of Akira Koga and Taichi Saito also lost in the last four at the Super 1000 tournament.

The Indian pair thus leapfrogged the Japanese pair in the Road to Bali to book the berth at the year-ending event.

Satwik and



Chirag needed to beat World No. 1 pair of Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sukamuljo in the semifinals to make the cut but they ended up losing 16-21 18-21.

Akira and Taichi had lost to fellow Japanese duo of Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi 22-20 21-14 to pave the way for the Indian pair.

“Fell short in the end against Kevin/Marcus today. But nevertheless happy with the way we played this week. On the positive side we have qualified for the World Tour Finals!” Chirag wrote on his instagram page.