Rankireddy-Shetty finish as runners-up in the 2024 Malaysia Open: Stats
Indian star men's doubles pairing Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty finished as the runners-up in the 2024 Malaysia Open. The Indian duo was beaten by China's World Number 1 pairing Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang in three games 21-9, 18-21, 17-21 in the summit clash. The Indians lost their second consecutive final encounter against the Chinese pairing. Here are the key stats.
A look at Rankireddy-Shetty's journey to the final
The Indian duo started their journey in Malaysia by beating Indonesia's Muhammad Fikri and Bagad Malauna by a scoreline of 21-18, 21-19 in Round of 32. Rankireddy-Shetty got the better of France's Ronan Labar and Lucas Corvee by 21-11, 21-18. They then defeated He Jiting and Ren Xiangyu 21-11, 21-18 (quarter-final). The Indians edged past Kang Ming-hyuk and Seo Seung-jae by 21-18, 22-20 (semi-final).
Head-to-head: Wang-Liang 3-1 Rankireddy-Shetty
The Chinese men's doubles pairing holds the advantage over the Indians in the head-to-head statistics. Before this encounter, Wang-Liang had a 3-1 head-to-head record against Rankireddy-Shetty. The Chinese won the last encounter at the China Masters in 2023. Rankireddy-Shetty's only win against them came at the Korea Open semi-final last year. Wang-Liang improved their head-to-head record by winning the Malaysia Open final.
The first Indians to reach the Malaysia Open final
Rankireddy-Shetty created history when they won the Indonesia Open in 2023 which was their first BWF Super 1000 World title. Notably, they became the first Indians to reach the final at the Malaysia Open. Although they failed to win the title in Malaysia, they scripted history by finishing as the runners-up at the Super 1000 event.
How did the match pan out?
Rankireddy-Shetty started brilliantly as they wrapped up game 1 even before the Chinese duo could react. However, Wang-Liang fought back in the second game where they maintained a lead and closed out the game with some deceptive shots. The Indians started the decider with a 10-3 lead before some unforced errors and brilliant play from Wang-Liang saw them make a stunning comeback.
Fourth runners-up finish for Rankireddy-Shetty
This was the fourth time Rankireddy-Shetty finished as runners-up in the BWF World Tour. They have won seven BWF 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 have finished runners-up four times- Syed Modi International (2018), French Open (2019), China Masters (2023) and Malaysia Open (2024).
Rankireddy-Shetty had a remarkable 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).
