Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty’s bid for a second consecutive World Championships semi-final ended after they lost 21-18, 21-9 to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang in the men’s doubles quarterfinals in New Delhi on Friday.
The fifth-seeded Indians started strongly and led 11-10 at the interval in a closely fought opening game. However, the Chinese pair raised their intensity at 18-18 and won the final three points to take the opener. Satwik and Chirag struggled to recover in the second game, falling 1-6 behind before trailing 5-11 at the interval. Liang and Wang continued to dominate and wrapped up the match comfortably.
The defeat ended India’s men’s doubles campaign, leaving Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand as the country’s only remaining representatives.