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The Indian duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty stunned Mohammad Ahsan and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo 18-21, 23-21, 21-19 in a thriller in the second fixture of the 2022 Thomas Cup final.
The hard-fought match lasted an hour and 13 minutes and gave India a 2-0 lead, helping them lift their maiden Thomas Cup title in the final in Bangkok, Thailand on Sunday.
The World No. 8 pairing of Satwiksairaj and Chirag continued their dream performances in the knockout stages of this prestigious biennial tournament.
After registering similar sensational victories in the quarter-finals against Malaysia and in the semi-finals against Denmark, Satwik-Chirag completed a grand hat-trick of wins.
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The win was important as it helped India go ahead 2-0 after Lakshya Sen provided a flying start to the campaign. Kidambi Srikanth then defeated Jonatan Christie in straight sets to secure a 3-0 victory for India.
Satwik and Chirag saved four match points in the second game to win and force the decider and then came out on top in the match.
It looked all over for Satwik and Chirag when they were trailing 14-18 in the second game after losing the first 18-21.
However, displaying champion stuff like Lakshya Sen did earlier, Satwik and Chirag bounced back gallantly to claim an extended second game of 23-21.
The pair did not look back thereafter and clinched the decider 21-19 on their third match point. It was the fifth win for Satwik-Chirag in the competition. Their only loss came against Chinese Taipei pair Lee Yang and Wang Chi-Lin in the third and final league match of Group C.
India's Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty maintain perfect records against Indonesia's Mohammad Ahsan and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo
Indonesia's Mohammad Ahsan and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo are not regular partners on the BWF international circuit. Both Ahsan and Kevin play with different partners. However, the Indonesian team management decided to pair them together for the Thomas Cup this year.
They did this at the Badminton Asia Team Championships in 2018, too. In the Group D league match, Satwik and Chirag thumped Ahsan and Kevin 18-21, 21-18, 24-22. The decision to field a crack combination of Ahsan and Keven backfired on both occasions for Indonesia against Satwik and Chirag.
Watch the moment Satwik and Chirag beat Indonesia's Ahsan and Kevin
As soon as the Indians won the final point, the wild celebrations went on. Chirag removed his jersey and danced around. His partner Satwik joined the celebrations along with other teammates and support staff.
Coming from behind, it was probably one of the most memorable victories for Satwik and Chirag.
