India's star shuttlers Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty created history in Paris on Monday. The Indian pair won the French Open 2022 title for the first time, achieving the biggest achievement of their career. With this historic win, Satwik and Chirag have become the first Indians to win men's doubles titles in a Super 750 badminton tournament.
In the same year, the pair won the gold medal at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games and the bronze medal at the World Championships. That's why this year so far has been historic for this Indian pair. In the final match of the men's doubles event, the pair defeated Chinese Taipei's Lu Ching Yao and Yang Po Han 21-13, 21-19 in a straight-game match that lasted 48 minutes.
In the French Open 2022 final, the Indian pair took a 5-0 lead in the opening game itself. After this, the pair of Chinese Taipei made several comeback attempts but still Satwik-Chirag won the first round 21-13. In the second round, the competition looked exciting and fierce. Initially, the Chinese Taipei pair tried to take the lead but the score remained in India's favor till the interval. The Chinese Taipei players however leveled the score at 14-14 and then at 19-19. But Satwik-Chirag also won this very game 21-19 in the end. And by this win, they immortalized their name on the pages of history.
In the last 2019 French Open tournament, Satwik-Chirag had missed out on the title. They finished as runners-up and lost to Indonesian pair of Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo. In 1983, Partho Ganguli and Vikram Singh's triumph became the first Indian men's doubles team to achieve this title.
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Satwik and Chirag have won not one but many big titles this year. Apart from gold medals at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games and bronze at the World Championships, the pair also won titles such as the India Open Super 500 and Thomas Cup. With the great rhythm in which this pair is seen, it can be expected that in the coming times, many more titles can come into India's bag soon.
