India's Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, a formidable men's doubles pair, faced another setback in their quest for a title, finishing as runners-up at the China Masters 2025. This marks their second consecutive final appearance on the 2025 BWF World Tour season.

The journey to the final in Shenzhen saw the eighth-seeded Indians overcome several challenges, including a dominant victory over Malaysia's Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik in the semi-finals. The match, which lasted 41 minutes, saw Satwik and Chirag prevail with a score of 21-17, 21-14. This win was particularly significant, as Chia and Soh had previously knocked them out of the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Satwik and Chirag displayed an aggressive, all-out attacking approach, coupled with solid defense. Shetty's quick reflexes and dominance at the front court, combined with Rankireddy's powerful smashes, proved to be a difficult combination for their opponents. The Indian pair had previously struggled against Chia and Soh, losing to them in the Singapore and China Open earlier in the season. However, they seemed to have found their form at the BWF World Championships, where they defeated the Malaysian duo en route to winning a bronze medal.

In the final, Satwik and Chirag were pitted against the world's top-ranked pair, Kim Won Ho and Seo Seung Jae of South Korea. This was the second successive final that Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty had reached, after the Hong Kong Open where they lost to China's Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang. Despite their best efforts, they couldn't clinch the title, prolonging their wait for a BWF World Tour title since May 2024.

Earlier in the tournament, Satwik and Chirag demonstrated their prowess by defeating China's Ren Xiangyu and Hao Nan Xie to secure their place in the semi-finals. En route to the final, Satwik-Chirag defeated the world No. 3 Danish pair of Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen in the quarter-finals and 15th-ranked Rasmus Kjaer and Frederik Sogaard in the round of 16. They began their campaign with a victory over the world No. 10 Chinese Taipei duo of Lee Jhe-Huei and Yang Po-Hsuan.

Despite the loss in the final, Satwik and Chirag have shown consistent form, reaching multiple semi-finals on the BWF World Tour. They also secured their second World Championships bronze medal in Paris. Their journey to the final of the China Masters 2025 is a testament to their skill and determination. This was Satwik-Chirag's second appearance in the final of the China Masters, having also finished as runners-up in 2023.