India’s Satwik-Chirag entered the China Masters final for the third time, defeating the Malaysian pair

India’s Satwiksiraj rankireddy and Chirag Shetty continued their magical run at the China Masters by reaching the final for the second consecutive year. India’s star duo beat Malaysia’s Nur Mohd Ayub Azriyn and Tan Wee Kiong 21-16, 18-21, 21-11 in one hour and six minutes on Saturday, September 5.

It also extended their winning streak over Azriyn and Tan to 3-0 with a good performance in a fierce affair where they were tested at times. This is the third time the Indian duo have made it to the final but are yet to win a title at the China Masters.

HOW THE MATCH HAPPENED

It wasn’t the best of starts for the Indian duo as they made mistakes early on and conceded a 0-5 lead to the Malaysian pair. But then the duo found their rhythm back and went on a seven-point scoring run to take the lead in the competition.

As the run of points came to an end, Satwik-Chirag was able to take an 11-9 lead into the break.

After the restart, the match quickly became fierce, with both teams exchanging points before putting on some exceptional badminton on the court.

There were shots that almost eluded the players and a sensational rally followed that included 54 shots. Eventually, Sat-Chi were able to break away from the game and take the lead.

The second match started similarly to the first. Satwik and Chirag were off their mark and Azriyn and Tan quickly raced to a 4-0 lead.

But the Indian duo stormed back into the match much like the first, leveling the score at 5-5. As in the first, Sat-Chi were able to wrestle the lead away from their Malaysian counterparts. But Azriyn and Tan went on a three-point winning run to take the lead into the break.

Right after the restart, Satwik and Chirag started using the smash a bit more to gain momentum but the Malaysian duo took control.

They started to take control again, although things were a little cautious. In their two battles before this one, Azriyn and Tan never took the game out of Sat-Chi.

But today they did it and pushed the match to a decision.

The Indian duo were clearly under pressure at this point and they responded by taking an early lead. Azriyn and Tan again showed their competitiveness and started to come back.

But once again, the Indian duo started targeting their opponents’ bodies with their shots to put them in tough spots. Sat-Chi seemed to be in much better control in the third game as she quickly jumped out to a 9-3 lead.

They entered the break with an 11-4 lead and the game seemingly in their pocket. After the restart, Sat-Chi looked ready to end the match quickly as Azriyn and Tan looked to be losing steam quickly.

Unforced errors started creeping into the game and the Indian lead was 16-6. The Malaysian duo did show some fighting spirit, but it wasn’t enough in the end.

Sat-Chi completed the game to complete the match and head to Sunday’s final where they will face either Tee Kai Kun and Yap Roy King of Malaysia or China’s He Ji Ting and Ren Xiang Yu.

– The end

Published on:

05 Sep 2026 19:34 IST