Indian star badminton duo Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty created history by becoming the first-ever Indian pair to storm into the Asian Games mens doubles final on Friday. They crashed Malaysias Olympic champions Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik in the semifinals with a scoreline of 21-17, 21-12 in the ongoing 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou.SATWIK-CHIRAG HAVE DONE IT 🤩🇮🇳📸: @badmintonphoto @himantabiswa | @sanjay091968 | @lakhaniarun1 #TowardsAsianGlory#AsianGames2022#AsianGames#TeamIndia#IndiaontheRise#BadmintonTwitter#Badminton pic.twitter.com/mCCSfT6Yi9— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) October 6, 2023 The Malaysian duo stiff challenge in the first set which lasted for about 24 minutes. While, in the second set, the Malaysian pair found it difficult to match the intensity of the Indian duo as they secured a commanding 21-12 victory in 23 minutes. The World No. 3 Indian duo will take on Choi Soi Gyu/Kim Won Ho of Korea in the highly anticipated final on Saturday.The Malaysian duo, has beaten Satchi in 7 out of 8 matches prior to this clash. Imagine playing against this World Champion & Olympic medalist duo in high pressure Semis clash with that record in mind. To crush them like this, is simply astonishing ABSOLUTE CHAMPIONS https://t.co/Dbg7Va8HLO— India_AllSports (@India_AllSports) October 6, 2023 Heartbreak for HS PrannoyEarlier in the day, Indian ace shuttler HS Prannoy suffered a heartbreak against Chinas Li Shifeng 0-2 (16-21, 9-21) in the mens singles semifinal and had to settle for a bronze.After going down into the first game break trailing 10-11, Li Shifeng bounced back in the match as he won 21-16, 21-9 in just over 45 minutes. HS Prannoy started well in the first game giving hard times to Chinese in the court as he took an 11-10 lead. However, it did not take long for Li Shifeng to seal the game as he raced around the court, not giving any space to the Indian veteran shuttler.PRANNOY ENDS ASIAN GAMES CAMPAIGN WITH A HISTORIC BRONZE 🥉🙌Proud of you @PRANNOYHSPRI 👏📸: @badmintonphoto @himantabiswa | @sanjay091968 | @lakhaniarun1 #AsianGames2022#AsianGames#TeamIndia#IndiaontheRise#BadmintonTwitter#Badminton pic.twitter.com/lMc1DpwFhA— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) October 6, 2023 The Indian looked more aggressive in the following rally but failed to put the shuttle into the opponents side, eventually. Shifeng fought back with much more energy and got his chances when they came as Prannoy seemingly ran out of juice at the end of the play.
