KUALA LUMPUR: World No. 2 Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty of India staged an epic comeback, saving six game points in the second game en route to beating reigning world champions Kang Min Hyuk-Seo Seung Jae of South Korea to reach the final of the Malaysia Open on Saturday.
Just when it looked as if the match was heading into a decider with Min Hyuk-Seung Jae leading 20-14 in the second game, Satwiksairaj-Chirag came back strongly to clinch the next eight points, sealing the pulsating battle 21-18, 22-20.
Satwiksairaj-Chirag have been in sensational form since the start of the week.
They have yet to drop a single game ahead of their title clash against either Japan's Yugo Kobayashi-Takuro Hoki or Liang Wei Keng-Wang Chang of China.
Chirag said they could not recall if they have ever pulled off a comeback from such a big margin, but he claimed what they have accomplished today was nowhere near the magnitude of what had won them the Thomas Cup in 2016.
In the final against Indonesia, Chirag-Satwiksairaj came back from the brink at 19-14 in the second game to beat Mohammad Ahsan and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo 18-21, 23-21, 21-19, clinching the second point for their team.
India eventually won 3-0 and lifted the Thomas Cup for the first time ever.
"It has to be that Thomas Cup final. I feel that was a more pressure situation," said Chirag.
"At that time, it was a second game that we could not afford to lose. It's nothing like today because if we lose, we lose a game, but here we have the third set like we have a chance.
"What unfolded in 2014, that was really amazing."
A buoyed Satwiksairaj sent out an early warning by declaring that the pair still has plenty of gas left in the tank as they seek to win their second Super 1000 title after having won the Indonesia Open last year.
"Good feeling. We wanted to start the year really well," said Satwiksairaj.
"We are really happy with the level we are playing, but we are not done yet.
"We have so much in the tank. We want to play good badminton tomorrow and look forward to the final."
Satwiksairaj-Chirag attributed their success in the past year to their coach, Mathias Boe, stating that the Danish legend played a pivotal role in transforming them into a more complete pair.
Boe has been guiding them since 2022, and they have won several notable titles, including the Asian Games and Asian Championships."
"He brought in a lot of facets. We were more or less an attacking pair before. We still are, although we've incorporated some new techniques that allow us to create attacks much more easily," said Chirag.
"Apart from that, the main thing we've definitely improved under Matthias is our defence. I think we've become a lot more consistent in our defence. Earlier, it was probably 50-50 when we were defending, it was not like we were controlling the shuttle.
"We just wanted to create an attack. But now, we are able to lift the shuttle and create opportunities from defence to attack. It's a lot easier than before, which was very fast. So, I think he has added a lot more facets to our game. It has become a lot more complete.
"A lot of credit goes to him."
