Satwik-Chirag pair loses to Wang and Liang in World Championships quarters

NEW DELHI: Star Indian men's doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty's dream of winning a third medal at the BWF World Championships ended with a straight-game loss to China's world No. 3 Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang in the quarterfinal here on Friday.

The world No. 5 Indians, who have won bronze medals at the 2022 and 2025 editions, lacked the required sharpness and crashed to an 18-21 9-21 loss in just 36 minutes against Wang and Liang, the Paris Olympics silver medallists.

After Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand assured India's medal run at the World Championships would continue since 2011, the onus was on Satwik and Chirag to earn another medal for the country.

The Indians had lost nine times and won four against the Chinese world No. 3 pair.

Satwik and Chirag made a good start, going toe-to-toe with the Chinese as the two pairs engaged in fierce rallies, moving together at 4-4, 8-8 and 10-10.

The Indians were good at closing out the midcourt area and held a one-point cushion at the break. Satwik and Chirag moved to 15-12 with a flurry of angled returns and then prevailed in a flat exchange to reach 16-14.

A net error from Chirag and a jump smash from Wang saw the Chinese breathing down the Indians' necks at 17-18. It was 18-18 after Satwik sprayed a shot wide. A jump smash from Liang, followed by another net error from Chirag, gave the Chinese two game points.

Liang and Wang converted the second game point after the Indians succumbed to their fourth error in a row.

The Chinese carried their confidence into the second game, leading 9-4 after dominating the fast and furious rallies. Chirag also committed two service errors while struggling for consistency following his late errors in the first game.

Wang and Liang entered the break with a healthy 11-5 lead. The Chinese kept the shuttle flat, sending it at various angles and killing anything short. The result was a 15-7 lead in no time.

Liang was simply sensational with his interceptions, anticipation and ability to retrieve at a fast pace. He then bisected the two Indians with a down-the-line shot through the middle to march further ahead.

Satwik then hit the net as the score moved to 17-9. The Chinese were fired up while the Indians' hopes wavered as Satwik's lift went into the net.

Soon, Wang and Liang had nine match points and converted on the first with a fine serve.