Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Chirag Shetty bow out with bronze after tense semifinal loss at World Championships

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty suffered a heartbreaking defeat in the semifinal of the BWF World Championships against China's Chen Bo Yang and Liu Yi and settled for a bronze medal. The Indian ace pair put up a solid fight in the big semifinal, which lasted about an hour and seven minutes, but Chen and Liu were too good on the day to book their places in the final of the men's doubles. In the first two games, Satwik and Chirag put up a solid show as they remained a closely knitted affair and bounced back to win the second one 19-21, 21-18, but the Chinese pair went all guns blazing in the decider and claimed it 21-12.

The contest opened with Satwik taking the first serve, which pressured the Chinese pair into sending the shuttle wide, handing India the opening point. With back-to-back smashes from the Chinese pair that straightaway crashed into the net, Satwik and Chirag opened up a 4-0 lead. Chen and Liu bounced back quickly to open their account and cut down the deficit to 4-1.

Satwik and Chirag stormed off the blocks, racing to a 9-3 advantage, but Chen and Liu quickly capitalised on a few openings to cut the deficit to 9-5. The Indians, however, regained control and entered the mid-game break comfortably ahead at 11-5.

After the restart, the Chinese pair regrouped and shifted gears, displaying sharp defence and clever shot-making to erase the gap and level the contest at 12-all. The tide turned further when Chirag misjudged a defensive return, pushing India behind at 14-16.

A gripping 24-shot rally kept Satwik and Chirag alive, narrowing the margin to 16-18, but despite their fightback, Chen and Liu maintained their composure to close out the opening game 21-19.

The second game started on a similar note, with the Indian pair taking an early advantage of 6-2, but the Chinese pair bounced back well to make it 8-8. The contest remained evenly poised for a considerable stretch, with both pairs trading blows in an intense back-and-forth battle, and the score even locked at 17-all at one stage. During the pressure moments, the Indian duo levelled up their game and clinched the second round 21-18.

The Chinese pair didn't game much of a chance to Satwik and Chirag in the final round and took a fiery 6-0 lead early in the game. The Indian shuttlers went on to lose nine straight points in the decider before taking their first after a 34-shot rally. The flick serve continued to add to India's agony as Satwik and Chirag continued with their catch-up play at 2-10. In 10 minutes, the Chinese orchestrated a 3-11 lead to take a step closer to the final.

Satwik and Chirag tried to bounce, but the Chinese pair was too good, as the Indians couldn't avoid the fate and surrendered to a 12-21 defeat.

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