New Delhi, August 30(HS): Indian men's doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty created history at the BWF World Badminton Championships in Paris by advancing to the semifinals on Friday night. They defeated the Malaysian duo Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik 21-12, 21-19 in a fierce quarterfinal battle, assuring themselves at least a bronze medal.

This will be Satwik-Chirag's second medal at the World Championships after they won bronze in Tokyo in 2022, where they had lost to the same Malaysian pair in the semifinals. This time, they avenged that defeat with a commanding victory.

With this win, India continued its tradition of winning medals at every World Championship since 2011.

The Indian pair started the match with an impressive display, capitalizing on long rallies to build an 11-6 lead in the first game and eventually took it 21-12.

In the second game, they maintained their aggressive play, though the Malaysian duo staged a comeback to level the score at 19-19. However, Satwik and Chirag remained composed, clinching the last two points to seal the match.

This marks their fourth victory against Chia-Soh in 15 encounters.

In the semifinals on Saturday, Satwiksairaj and Chirag will face China’s Li Yu and Bo Yang Chen.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar