India Open 2024: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty's dream run comes to a halt in the final

The final of the India Open brought heartbreak for the country's badminton fans as Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty went down fighting in three grueling games. Playing their second final in as many weeks, the duo fell short against Korea's Min Hyuk Kang and Seung Jae Seo, 21-15, 11-21, 18-21 on Sunday (January 21).

On a finals day that featured some blockbuster matches, the men's doubles was the last encounter scheduled at the IG Stadium in Delhi. On their way to the title fight, second seeds Rankireddy and Shetty had dismantled Danes Kim Astrup/Anders Rasmussen and Malaysians Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik and looked like strong contenders for the win.

The match started out at an intense pace with both pairs breathing down each other's necks, before the Indians managed to break ahead at the mid-game interval. From thereon, the World No. 2 pair quickly managed to edge ahead of Kang and Seo, taking the first game 21-15.

Not ones to be intimidated, the Korean third seeds fought back from the beginning of the second game, establishing an early lead at 5-1. They continued that momentum, seemingly leaving Rankireddy and Shetty confused, and forced a decider after winning the game 21-11.

As the third game commenced, Kang and Seo continued to dominate the court, leading at the interval 11-7. However, backed by the cheering crowd, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty attempted a valiant comeback but fell short 21-18.

India Open: Full final results

Meanwhile, the other finals at the India Open Super 750 brought with them the same amount of exciting action. Getting the day started were the mixed doubles pairs of Jiang Zheng Bang/Wei Ya Xin and Dechapol Puavaranukroh/Sapsiree Taerattanachai. Thailand's Puavaranukroh and Taerattanachai won that encounter 21-16, 21-16.

Following them on court was Tai Tzu Ying and Chen Yu Fei for the women's singles final. In that highly anticipated clash, Tai beat out her Chinese foe, 21-16, 21-12.

Next up at the India Open, Japanese eight seeds Mayu Matsumoto and Wakana Nagahara outfoxed their Chinese counterparts Zhang Shu Xian and Zheng Yu, 21-12, 21-13.

The second-last match of the day was the men's singles final, where Shi Yu Qi, who yesterday (January 20) took down India's HS Prannoy, won the title over Hong Kong's Lee Cheuk Yiu, 23-21, 21-17.