BWF World Tour Finals: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty pair makes winning start

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty got off to a winning start in the BWF World Tour Finals, saving a match point to down Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang of China 12-21, 22-20, 21-14 in their Group B opener in Hangzhou.

In the second match in the group, second-seeded Malaysians Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik beat Fajar Alfian and Mu hammad Shohibul Fikri of Indonesia 22-24, 21-18, 21-19. Satwik-Chirag will face Fajar and Shohibul in their second match on Thursday. A victory here will guarantee them a place in the semifinals. At the Tour Finals, eight top-ranked teams are divided into two groups. The top two teams from each group will advance to the semifinals.



Chirag admitted that they were under pressure in the first game. “We did not start well. They put a lot of pressure on us and did not let us to get into the game. Second game onwards we wanted to be as aggressive as possible,” Chirag said.

The shuttle was slow in the second game. “The shuttle was fast in the first and slow in the second. We adjusted well. Chirag made a good serve at the end of the second and that’s all that mattered,” Satwik said.