Satwiksairaj Reddy, Chirag Shetty assure India of first men's doubles medal at World Championships

Indian badminton pair Satwiksairaj Reddy and Chirag Shetty, who claimed the gold medal for the nation in the recently concluded Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham have created history once again. Satwiksairaj and Chirag have become the first ever Indian men's doubles pair to clinch a medal at the BWF World Championship. 

The Indian pair stunned world number 2 ranked Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi of Japan in the quarterfinal stage on Friday. It was Reddy and Shetty's maiden medal at the World Championships. 

The Indian shuttlers who are currently ranked at number 7 in the BWF world rankings, toiled for an hour and 15 minutes to dump out the local favourites. 

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Satwiksairaj Reddy and Chirag Shetty progressed to the semifinals of the prestigious tournament after winning their quarterfinal clash against the defending champions 24-22 15-21 21-14. 

It was India's second World Championships medal in doubles with Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa claiming the first way back in 2011 in the women's doubles.

Earlier, MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila's fine run came to an end after the Indian pair lost to three-time gold medallists Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan in their men's doubles quarterfinals.

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The unseeded Indian combination, who had some sensational wins this week, lost 8-21 14-21 to the third-seeded Indonesian pair in less than 30 minutes, drawing curtains to its campaign.

The Indians had earlier defeated eighth seeds Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen of Denmark in the second round.

With inputs from PTI