India’s top doubles pair Satwik and Chirag book another China Masters final in Shenzhen

India’s top-ranked men’s doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty advanced to the final of the China Masters. The Indian pair, fifth in the badminton rankings, beat Malaysia’s world No. 29 combination of Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub and Tan Wee Kiong 21-16, 18-21, 21-11 in an hour and six minutes to reach the final of the BWF Super 750 event.

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With this victory, the fondly called ‘Smash Bros’ registered their third final at the event in four years since 2023. They finished runners-up in 2023 and 2025 and reached the semifinals in 2024.

The reigning Asian Games men’s doubles badminton champions will now have another opportunity to win their maiden China Masters crown. No Indian shuttler has won the tournament since its inception in 2005. Pics: Badminton Photo

The reigning Asian Games men’s doubles badminton champions will now have another opportunity to win their maiden China Masters crown. No Indian shuttler has won the tournament since its inception in 2005. They’ll face the winner of the match between Malaysia’s Tee Kai Wun/Yap Roy King and China’s He Ji Ting/Ren Xiang Yu in the final.

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The Malaysian pair raced to a 5-0 lead in the opening game before Satwik and Chirag responded with seven consecutive points and went into the mid-game interval 11-9 ahead. The Indian badminton players maintained their advantage after the break and, from 17-15, won four of the next five points to close out the opening game.

The Malaysians made another fast start in the second game, racing to a 4-0 lead before Satwik and Chirag found their rhythm and moved 10-8 ahead. The lead changed hands several times thereafter, with the two pairs locked at 18-all. Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub and Tan Wee Kiong, however, won three straight points to take the match into a decider.

Satwik and Chirag ensured there would be no repeat of the Malaysians’ fast starts in the decider, taking control early and going into the mid-game interval 11-4 ahead. After the change of ends, the Indian pair continued to dictate proceedings, closing out the deciding game to seal their place in the final.

It will be Satwik and Chirag’s third BWF World Tour final of 2026. They finished runners-up at the Thailand Open in May before winning the Singapore Open later that month.

The Indian pair will be hunting for their 10th career title on the BWF World Tour in Sunday’s final. The Indian pair had missed out on a third BWF World Championships medal after a quarterfinal exit in New Delhi last month.

India’s singles campaign had wrapped up in the quarterfinals with Kidambi Srikanth’s loss on Friday.