Thailand Open: Satwik & Chirag emerge champions

Bangkok: Indian shuttlers Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty secured the Thailand Open Super 500 men's doubles title by outwitting Chen Bo Yang and Liu Yi of China in the final here on Sunday.

They beat Liu and Chen, ranked 29th, 21-15, 21-15 in 46 minutes to receive a major boost ahead of the Paris Olympics. The world No. 3 Indian duo had claimed its first major title in Thailand in 2019. 

It was the second title of the season for the Asian Games champions after the French Open super 750 which they won in March. The duo had finished runners-up at the Malaysia Super 1000 and India Super 750.

"Bangkok has always been special for us, we won our first super series title back in 2019 here and also the Thomas Cup, so it has been a special place and so happy to be here," Chirag said after the win.

For Satwik and Chirag, the title comes at a major juncture of their career as they had some low returns in the last couple of tournaments.

The Indian pair lost in the second round at All England Championships and then missed the Asia Championships due to an injury to Satwik.

The Thomas Cup campaign was also not too fruitful as they lost a couple of narrow matches to top pairs.