The Asian champions lost a tactical battle to Korean world champions Kang Min-hyuk and Seo Seung-jae on the last day of the BWF India Open tournament.
The beating of inflated balloon sticks, blowing of trumpets and raucous cheering. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty – the only Indians to make the final day of the $850,000 BWF India Open – received a rousing welcome from a packed house at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium here on Sunday.
Buoyed by the crowd, the world No.2 pairing made a start that delighted the spectators, crushing world champions Kang Min-hyuk and Seo Seung-jae of South Korea in the first game. But playing a second successive final for the first time on the BWF World Tour — they were runners-up last week in the Malaysian Open — the fatigued pair could not maintain their level in the next 45 minutes to lose the final of the Super 750 tournament.
World No.3 Seo and Kang won 15-21, 21-11, 21-18 in 65 minutes to improve their record to 2-4 against the reigning Asian champions. This was the third consecutive final loss for the Indians, who had also lost in the final of the China Masters.(HT)