Singapore, May 30 (IANS) India’s top men’s doubles combination of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty knocked off World Champions Kim Won Ho and Seo Seung Jae of Korea in straight games to reach the final of the Singapore Open BWF World Series Super 750 tournament in Singapore on Saturday.

The fourth-seeded Indian pair registered their first victory over the Korean duo in three meetings, winning the semifinal clash 21-19, 21-18 in 52 minutes to reach their second World Tour final of the year.

The 2025 World Championships bronze medallists had finished runners-up at the Thailand Open earlier this year.

In the semifinal on Saturday, Satwik and Chirag fought back after conceding early leads in both games against the Koreans.

The Indian combination trailed 8-13 and then 13-17 in the opening game, but held their nerves under pressure to clinch the game. “When we were down, we kept calm and backed ourselves because we knew if we stuck to our plan, they would crack at some point,” Chirag said.

The second game also saw the Indians trailing 11-14 before they clinched six straight points to take a 17-14 lead and then maintained that advantage to reach the finals.

On facing Kim/Seo, Chirag added, “They have the best defense on the circuit right now. We knew we had to stay calm and steady, especially when attacking.”

Satwik and Chirag will now face the winner of the second semifinal between fifth seeds Mathias Christiansen and Alexander Boe of Denmark and China’s Gao Jia Xuan and Wei Ya Xin.

Meanwhile, the challenge of the Indian mixed doubles pair Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto ended in the semifinals after a 16-21, 21-17, 13-21 loss to Japan’s Yuichi Shimogami and Sayaka Hobara.

Earlier in the quarterfinals, fourth-seeded Satwik and Chirag started strongly by taking the opening game but were pushed into a decider after the Chinese Taipei pair dominated the second. The Indians came back to close out the match 21-18 in the decider, extending their head-to-head record against the duo to 7-0. They will next face Malaysia’s Kang Khai Xing and Aaron Tai, to whom they lost their All England Open campaign earlier this year.

–IANS

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