China Masters: Satwik-Chirag reach back-to-back finals with dominant performance against nemeses Chia-Soh

Finals up for grabs as Rankireddy/Shetty 🇮🇳 take on Chia/Soh 🇲🇾. #BWFWorldTour #ChinaMasters2025 pic.twitter.com/ildGhy08du

— BWF (@bwfmedia) September 20, 2025

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During the coaching intervals, coach Tan would start off by giving his tactical inputs. And then he’d look at his wards and throw in a question: “What do you think?” After the opening game, it was to Chirag. In Game 2’s mid-game interval, it was to Satwik. He’d listen on as they weighed in with their tactical analysis: what was working well and what they needed to do better. It’s becoming a common sight during their matches these days and a sign of how the mentorship is now evolving into a partnership.

And that partnership is starting to work wonders once again. The bronze medal at the World Championships was a much-needed shot in the arm for Satwik-Chirag, as they had to come through a tough draw to beat Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang, as well as Chia-Soh; two pairs who have a comfortable winning record against the Indians. That run has turned their season around, as they have now found the consistency that was lacking post-Paris Olympics, mainly due to fitness issues.

“In the first half of the year, we got a lot of breaks because of injuries and I think right now we both are in good condition, fingers crossed, and hopefully we’ll continue this form,” Satwik told BWF on Saturday. “It feels great, obviously. Even last week we were saying that we had played a lot of semi-finals this year, we weren’t able to play a final, but finally we got to play a final last week, although we couldn’t go on to win. We want to do better than we did last week this time around,” Chirag added.

On Sunday, they face perhaps the toughest test in badminton right now: against the red-hot Korean duo of Seo Seung Jae and Kim Won Ho, who have zoomed up the world rankings after reuniting earlier this year and look set to hold on to the World No 1 status for a long time, having recently won the World Championships as well.

The key to beating the best pairs seems to be Satwik-Chirag’s improved defensive structure and counterpunching skills. Their combined attack is arguably the best in men’s doubles right now, and that remains the go-to Plan A. With both of them being tall shuttlers and blessed with a strong power game, Chirag and Satwik can dominate any match when they are given the height to work with. When they were tested by the flat parallel gameplay of the Malaysian and Chinese pairs, they tended to struggle. But, as was the case on Saturday, they were able to more than neutralise the flat game of the Malaysians, absorbing pressure on defence and using the angles well on court. The fourth point in the opening game was the perfect illustration. Satwik repeatedly lifted to the backcourt and Soh’s smashes kept coming back before the Indians settled into a side-by-side formation for a flat exchange, and eventually Chia made the error at the net.

“I think it’s all about confidence,” Satwik said about the counterattacks. “We have been practicing that for many years, but I don’t know, somewhere we were not so confident while doing that, but I think after the World Championship, we got a lot of confidence because we were on the podium. It’s all about staying calm (in defence) and playing your game.”

The Malaysians were perhaps the better pair in the first half of the opener, but after the interval, Satwik and Chirag controlled the tempo, while the usually unflappable Chia started to struggle, making error after error. With the game evenly poised at 13-13, Chirag won the serve back with a clever return. That was followed by the potential turning point of the evening for a 15-13 lead for the Indians. Chirag and Satwik both reacted superbly to net cords from Chia to keep the rally going. Then the Malaysians showcased their sensational defensive skills in a flat exchange, before Chia made another error at the net, going for a soft touch and sending the shuttle into the net. The shuttle might have actually been going wide too before he played it. And it set the Indians on their way to winning the opening game.

The second game saw another brilliant rally from the Indians that set the tone. Chirag’s strings broke early on in the exchange but he stayed on court, controlling the net before Satwik took over at the backcourt and rained down with his smashes. “The best player to have on the backcourt if your strings are gone,” commentator Steen Pedersen remarked. Just when it appeared Chia was getting his rhythm back to close the gap down, Satwik’s clever crosscourt net shot kissed the top of the tape before Chirag pounced at the net to kill for 13-9. The Indians soon had a healthy lead and closed the match out comfortably.

In the end, coach Tan had a smile as the players embraced at the net. “Beating the Malaysians, he was more happy actually,” Satwik had said after Paris. “He doesn’t like losing to the Malaysians.” For now, Satwik-Chirag have found a way to crack this code.