Korean Open in kitty, Satwik and Chirag raise hopes for world title

The Korean city of Yeosu may long be remembered as the base camp from where Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty began their ascent to the impending World No 1 status. With their blazing attacking play, the current third-ranked Indian pair beat the World No. 1, 2 and 5 at the Korean Open Super 500 held from 18–23 July.
In the finals Sunday, Rankireddy and Shetty came from behind against the World No. 1 and All England champions, Fajar Alfian and Muhamad Rian Ardianto, to win 17-21, 21-13, 21-14.
Sunday’s win ensures the Indian duo’s rise to World No 2 on Monday, when the rankings are out. Their coronation as the world’s top shuttler pair could be sooner, in fact just next week, if they win the Japan Open and Alfian-Ardianto lose before the quarters.

“It’s been a pretty good week for us. We played some amazing badminton and I am happy with the performance today,” said Satwik after winning the Korean Open title. “We want to continue with the same momentum next week at the Japan Open. So, we’ll go back now, rest and focus again.”
The Korea win is the Indian pair’s sixth consecutive victory after they lost the French Open finals three seasons ago. It’s been a no-break run ever since — with the next French Open, then the Thomas Cup, the Swiss Open, the Asian Championships, the Indonesian Open and now Korea.
At the Korean Open, besides their comfortable straight-set win against the Japanese No. 5 pair, Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi, the Indians also beat the World No. 2 Chinese Liang Wei Keng and Chang Wang, a victory they had so far been elusive.
With that, Marcus Gideon and Kevin Sukamuljo of Indonesia remain the only top pairing against whom the Indian duo has never won.
Also, India has never won the Asian Games or World Championships gold in the men’s section, and the duo from Mumbai and Amalapuram (Andhra Pradesh) is raising hopes with the red-hot form they have struck.

“They are head and shoulders above the rest of the pairings, and not just in height…,” said coach Pullela Gopichand. “They have a strong attack, both have a good serve and net game. The initiative they take in the first two three strokes and their intensity makes their attack world class. They are clearly up there, and large, the best pair in the world.”
In the course of their 10-match win streak so far, across the Indonesian Open title triumph last month to Korea now, the Indian pair overturned formerly losing margins. In fact, the entire duration of the Korean Open saw the opposing teams struggle in vain to defend against the Satwik-Chirag attack, who just had to keep the shuttle under the tap.
This was a steep departure from the earlier times when India dreaded team championships in badminton because of weak doubles teams.
Speaking to The Indian Express last month after the Indonesia Open triumph, Satwik-Chirag had said, “We don’t fear the Chinese, Japanese, Koreans. They might be thinking ‘Oh shit we have to face Satwik Chirag’”.