New Delhi: India’s top men’s doubles pair, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, were defeated in straight games by newly crowned world champions Kim Won Ho and Seo Seung Jae of South Korea in the final of the China Masters 2025, a BWF World Tour Super 750 event, on Sunday. The Indian duo, unbeaten en route to the final, lost 19-21, 15-21 at the Shenzhen Arena, finishing runners-up for the second consecutive tournament on the 2025 BWF circuit.
This marked Satwik and Chirag’s second final of the year after last week’s Hong Kong Super 500, where they broke a six-semifinal streak by reaching the final but fell in three games to China’s Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang.
In the China Masters opener, the Koreans gained an early advantage, but Chirag levelled the score at 3-3 with a sharp third shot at the net. The Indian pair applied pressure with a series of smashes, keeping the deficit to just one point until 5-6. Satwik and Chirag then surged ahead, reaching the break at 11-7 and later holding a 14-7 lead. However, the Koreans mounted a comeback, drawing level at 17-all. Crucial mistakes from the Indian duo in the closing stages allowed Kim and Seo to clinch the first game 21-19.
The second game was closely contested, tied at 9-all before the Koreans took a narrow lead into the mid-game interval at 11-10. Although Satwik and Chirag reduced the gap to 14-16 after the break, Kim and Seo seized five match points in quick succession to seal the match 21-15 and lift the title.
