India Open, Rankireddy-Shetty lose three consecutive BWF finals: Key stats
Indian men's doubles pairing of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty went down fighting in the final of the 2024 India Open on Sunday. They went down fighting against the reigning World Champions Kang Min-hyuk and Seo Seung-Jae as they lost 21-15, 11-21, 18-21 in an hour and five minutes. Rankireddy-Shetty have reached the finals in their last three tournaments and lost all of them.
Head-to-head: Rankireddy-Shetty 3-2 Kang-Seo
The Indians went into the final with an advantage against the South Koreans. Before this encounter, Rankireddy-Shetty had registered a 3-1 lead in the head-to-head statistics against Kang-Seo. They defeated the South Korean pairing in the semi-final of the Malaysia Open only a week back. However, Kang-Seo redeemed themselves by beating the Indian duo in New Delhi to improve their head-to-head record to 3-2.
Rankireddy-Shetty have lost their last three BWF finals
Rankireedy-Shetty had a brilliant 2023 where they won five titles including three BWF titles. However, they ended the year with a defeat in the China Masters final against World Number 1, Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang. They started 2024 with a defeat against the Chinese pairing at the Malaysia Open final. And now, they have lost the India Open final against Kang-Seo.
A look at Rankireddy-Shetty's journey to the final
Rankireddy-Shetty kick-started their campaign with a 21-15, 19-21, 21-16 win over Lee Fang-chih and Lee Fan-jen. The Indians defeated Yang Po-han and Lu Chiang-yao 21-15, 21-15 in the Round of 16. They then defeated Kim Astrup and Anders Rasmussen 21-7, 21-10 in the quarter-final. Rankireddy-Shetty went past Malaysian star duo Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik 21-18, 21-14 in the semi-final.
Fifth runners-up finish for Rankireddy-Shetty
This is the fifth runners-up finish for Rankireddy-Shetty in BWF tournaments. They have registered runners-up finish in the Syed Modi International (2018), French Open (2019), China Masters (2023), Malaysia Open (2024) and India Open (2024). Overall, they have won seven titles: Hyderabad Open (2018), Thailand Open (2019), India Open (2022), French Open (2022), Swiss Open (2023), Indonesia Open (2023), and Korea Open (2023).
Rankireddy-Shetty had a sensational 2023
Rankireddy-Shetty had a sensational 2023 where they won five titles including three BWF World titles. They triumphed at the Indonesia Open followed by the Swiss Open and Korea Open. The Indian duo also won gold medals at the Asian Badminton Championship followed by Asian Games in Hangzhou. The only final that they lost was against Wang-Liang in the China Masters (19-21, 21-18,19-21).
