Satwik, Chirag Storm Into China Masters Final
India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty stormed into the China Masters final for the third time with a tactical three-game win over Malaysia’s Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub and Tan Wee Kiong on Saturday, moving within one victory of their second title of the season.
The world No. 5 Indian pair, who finished runners-up in the 2023 and 2025 editions, recovered from a second-game setback to defeat the world No. 29 Malaysians 21-15, 18-21, 21-11 in 65 minutes.
The Asian Games champions will face China’s He Ji Ting and Ren Xiang Yu in Sunday’s summit clash.
Satwik, Chirag Overcome Malaysia Test
Satwik and Chirag entered the semifinal with a 2-0 head-to-head record against Nur and Tan, having beaten the Malaysian pair at the 2024 Thailand Open and 2025 Malaysian Open.
The fourth-seeded Indians made a slow start, falling 0-5 behind, but responded with seven consecutive points, including a gruelling 34-shot rally, to take control.
Satwik’s angled smashes continued to trouble the Malaysians as the Indians opened up a 17-12 advantage. A remarkable 54-shot rally at 18-15 further underlined the intensity before Satwik and Chirag secured the opening game.
The Malaysians again started strongly in the second game, racing to a 4-0 lead. The Indians recovered to level at 5-5 and later moved ahead 10-8, but a series of errors allowed Nur and Tan to regain momentum.
The two pairs remained locked in a tight battle until 18-18, when the Malaysians produced the decisive points to force a decider.
Indian Pair Dominates Decider
Satwik and Chirag quickly put the second-game disappointment behind them, establishing a 5-2 lead in the decider.
Chirag was particularly effective at finding gaps and restricting the Malaysians’ movement, while Satwik continued to unleash powerful smashes.
The Indians led 11-4 at the interval and extended their advantage to 13-6 soon after. With the Malaysians visibly running out of energy, Satwik and Chirag moved to 20-9 before sealing victory on their third match point.
Chirag’s flick serve proved decisive as the Indian pair booked their place in another China Masters final.
Satwik, Chirag Chase Second Title
The victory is particularly significant for the Indian pair after an injury-enforced break kept them away from competition for several months.
“It has been not easy 3 months for both of us. Yeah, it feels really good. Obviously, we were out for quite some time, so playing finals back in our second tournament after the break feels really good. So yeah, feels special,” Chirag said.
Satwik said the pair would now focus on recovery before attempting to complete their China Masters campaign with a title.
“We now go back, recover first. Then see, wake up, how our body feels. Then we need one more match. We will push our 100% tomorrow,” he said.
The Indians have frequently dropped the second game during their run this week, but Satwik believes the experience has helped them regain their competitive sharpness.
“This is the whole story of this week. We have been playing first game easily, then second game we are giving away in the 15-all and 16-all all…but it’s fine for us. It’s a good tournament for us,” he said.
The pair’s return to competition has also been aimed at regaining match fitness and confidence ahead of the Asian Games.
“We are coming back from the injury. We wanted that crucial matches before playing Asian games. We want to get that feel, get that confidence,” Satwik added.
The Chinese pair of He Ji Ting and Ren Xiang Yu now stand between Satwik and Chirag and their second title of the season.
