Lakshya, Satwik-Chirag end as runners-up at Hong Kong Open

Lakshya Sen and the duo of Satwik-Chirag ended runners-up at the Hong Kong Open, losing in their respective finals to Chinese opponents despite promising starts and strong performances earlier in the tournament

Hong Kong: India squandered a golden opportunity to return with two titles as both Lakshya Sen and the men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty signed off with runner-up finishes at the Hong Kong Open Super 500 here on Sunday.

Lakshya could not blunt the attack of World No 4 Li Shi Feng and went down 15-21 12-21 in a rather sedate men’s singles final.

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Satwik and Chirag, who bagged a second successive World Championships bronze last month, let go of a one-game advantage before losing 21-19 14-21 17-21 to China’s Olympic silver medallists Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang in a tense 61-minute men’s doubles summit clash.

“Yeah, obviously feels good. Been a good week, especially after the World Championships a week later and here we are playing a final. Feels good,” Chirag said.

“You would want to go and win that title but I think, credit to them, they played well. There’s always a next time and overall happy with the performance.”

For Lakshya, it was his first final since the Syed Modi Super 300 last November, but he could not match his familiar foe Li, against whom he was playing for the 14th time in a rivalry dating back to their junior days.

The Indian held a slender 7-6 edge in the head-to-head, but the Chinese has dominated this season with wins at both the All England and China Open.

The 2021 World Championship bronze medallist Lakshya made a brisk start in the opening game, surging to a 4-0 lead before Li found his rhythm with sharp body attacks and flat exchanges to close in at 6-7. The Chinese drew level at 8-8 with an athletic net kill and then reeled off five straight points with a mix of tight net play and steep smashes to take control at 14-10.

Lakshya tried to wrest back the front court but miscued at crucial moments as Li moved ahead 19-15. The Chinese then unleashed a jump cross-court smash to pocket the opener 21-15.

Playing with the drift in the second game, Lakshya again started brightly at 4-1, only for Li to claw back with measured rallies. Errors at the net and a wide smash saw the Indian trail 7-4, and despite producing some sharp defensive strokes to reduce the deficit to 9-12, he was unable to blunt Li’s relentless attack.

The World No 4 kept up the pressure, surged to 15-9, and eventually grabbed eight match points before sealing it with another deft cross-court net dribble.

For Satwik and Chirag, it was their first final appearance in 16 months since winning the Thailand Open, and the loss ended their perfect record in Super 500 finals, having won all four they had contested earlier.

The Indians, who have reached six semifinals this season, had a 3-6 head-to-head record against Liang and Wang coming into the match. They had beaten them at the World Championships in Paris.

However, Satwik and Chirag failed to sustain the momentum after pocketing the opener and, having conceded an inexplicable 2-11 deficit in the decider, were left chasing the game.

“I think the shuttles were a bit fast. They were quite good at the 3-4 strokes. Put us under a lot of pressure in the first 4-5 strokes because they were retrieving quite hard.

“So I think we could have better planned in the second set, especially the third set as well. In the first game we countered it quite well, kept it low, but we weren’t able to do that in the second and third.”

The opening game was a thriller, with Chirag unleashing booming smashes to erase an early deficit and give India a slender lead at the interval. The Chinese fought back to nose ahead, but Satwik’s thunderous smash and a precision serve from Chirag sealed the game 21-19.

Liang and Wang, however, wrested back control in the second, racing to an 8-2 lead and maintaining their dominance with sharp front-court play and powerful smashes. Despite a brief Indian recovery, errors at the net proved costly as the Chinese levelled the contest.

The decider saw Liang and Wang storm to a 5-0 start and extend it to 11-2 at the break, capitalising on Indian lapses in coordination. Satwik and Chirag saved three match points in a late fightback but eventually faltered with a wide return, allowing the Chinese to clinch the title.