Hangzhou, China - Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty's impressive run at the BWF World Tour Finals 2025 in Hangzhou came to an end on Saturday, December 20, as they suffered a semifinal defeat against China's Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang. The Indian men's doubles pair, who had earlier topped Group B with an unbeaten record, succumbed to the local favorites in a hard-fought match that ended with a scoreline of 21-10, 17-21, 13-21.
The world No. 3 Indian duo began the match strongly, clinching the first game with relative ease. Satwik and Chirag appeared to be in control early on, silencing the partisan crowd with their dominant play. They established a commanding lead of 11-6 in the first game, capitalizing on errors from their opponents to wrap up the game in just 15 minutes.
However, the Chinese pair, silver medalists from the Paris 2024 Olympics, mounted a strong comeback in the second game. Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang found their rhythm, engaging in a neck-and-neck battle with Satwik and Chirag. With the score tied at 15-15, the Chinese duo upped their game, securing crucial points to win the second game 21-17 and force adeciding third game.
In the final game, Liang and Wang continued their momentum, taking control of the net and unleashing devastating flick serves that left the Indian pair struggling. The Chinese duo raced to an 11-2 lead, putting immense pressure on Satwik and Chirag. Despite the Indian pair's efforts to reduce the deficit, the lead proved too significant to overcome. Liang and Wang eventually sealed the match, winning the third game 21-13.
This defeat marks Satwik-Chirag's eighth loss in 12 encounters against Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, with five of those clashes occurring in 2025 alone. Although Satwik-Chirag had previously defeated the Chinese pair in the group stage of the BWF World Tour Finals and the BWF World Championships round of 16, they fell short in the Japan Open and Hong Kong Open as well.
Despite the semifinal loss, Satwik and Chirag made history by becoming the first Indian men's doubles team to reach the knockout stage of the BWF World Tour Finals. This is only the second BWF World Tour Finals medal ever won by Indian shuttlers, with PV Sindhu being the only gold medalist from the country, having won the women's singles title in 2018.
The Indian pair had a remarkable run-up to the semifinals, which included a confident victory against Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri from Indonesia, and an impressive comeback against Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik from Malaysia.
With this defeat, Satwik and Chirag conclude their 2025 season without a title, despite reaching the finals of the Hong Kong Open and the China Masters.
