At the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium, India’s best men’s doubles team, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, started their BWF World Tour Finals 2025 campaign with a valiant comeback victory over China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang. In a high-stakes match that lasted just over an hour, the World No. 3 Indians demonstrated tenacity and control to win 12-21, 22-20, and 21-14 against a pair that had won four of their previous five matches. In a very tough Group B that also includes Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik from Malaysia and Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Shohibul Fikri from Indonesia, the victory provides Satwik and Chirag an early advantage.
In the first game, Satwik and Chirag got off to a strong start but lost steam as the Chinese team grabbed charge and won 21–12. After falling behind in the first half, the Indians rallied in the second half, absorbing pressure and maintaining composure to win 22–20. Carrying that momentum into the decisive match, Satwik and Chirag demonstrated their dominance by breaking away following an early exchange to win 21–14. The Indian duo will next take against Alfian and Fikri on Thursday in an attempt to guarantee a semifinal spot in the season finale. Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik of Malaysia defeated Alfian and Fikri 24-22, 19-21, 19-21 to start.
Top-seeded pairs Kim Won Ho/Seo Seung Jae of Korea, Wei Chong Man/Wun Tee Kai of Malaysia, Sabai Karyaman Gutama and Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani of Indonesia, and Chiu Hsiang-Chieh/Wang Chi-Lin of Chinese Taipei make up Group A. In other matches on Wednesday, Putri Kusuma Wardani of Indonesia was defeated by South Korea’s Women’s World No. 1 An Se Young, who struggled to win 21-16, 8-21, and 21-8.
