Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty brought the curtain down on India’s campaign at the World Badminton Championships with a bronze, after bowing out in the men’s doubles semi-finals in Paris on Saturday evening.

The world No. 3 pairing, who were once ranked at the very top, fought hard against China’s 11th seeds Chen Bo Yang and Liu Yi but could not sustain the momentum, losing 19-21, 21-18, 12-21 in a bruising 67-minute encounter. Their defeat ended hopes of becoming the first Indian men’s doubles team to reach the final of the tournament.

The result nevertheless secured Satwik and Chirag’s second medal at the Worlds, a repeat of their 2022 bronze in Tokyo. A day earlier, the Asian Games champions had recorded one of their finest wins, stunning long-time rivals Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik of Malaysia, the two-time Olympic medallists, to ensure India’s medal run at the championships, stretching back to 2011, remained intact.

But the Chinese duo, sharp in defence and precise on the counter, proved too formidable. Satwik and Chirag began strongly, racing to a 9-3 lead in the opener with aggressive interceptions and smashes, only for Chen and Liu to claw back and take the game 21-19 with a late surge.

The Indians responded by forcing a decider, sealing the second game 21-18 despite errors creeping in at crucial stages. However, in the third, Liu’s flick serves rattled Chirag, and the Chinese stormed to a 9-0 lead. Trailing 3-11 at the change of ends, India never recovered as unforced errors piled up. Chen and Liu sealed the match when Satwik’s drive flew long.

Also read: Satwik-Chirag subdue Chia-Soh, enter semis

Chirag admitted afterwards, “We didn’t get really any rhythm. We didn’t start off that well. We gave away easy points (in the third game). We should have been a bit smarter. But, credit to them. They served quite well, right from the start of the third game.”

He added, “I think we could have made a few changes here and there, not really rush into the service, because they were also serving quite deep. But credit to them that they could put us out of place.”

Satwik reflected on the loss, saying, “They played with much more confidence, like we did in the first matches. Their body language… they were enjoying a little more than us. In the first game, even though we were leading, they were just giving what they have. I think that’s what we did in the previous matches. Today, I think we played really well in patches, it’s all about confidence, how strong you are mentally.”

The semi-final exit capped what has been a consistent yet testing season for the pair. Both have battled adversity, Chirag sidelined by a back injury, Satwik recovering from health issues and mourning the loss of his father earlier this year. Despite setbacks, they made semifinals at the Malaysia and India Open, and reached quarterfinals at the Indonesia, Singapore and China Opens.

Looking back at the week in Paris, Chirag summed it up: “This has been really good outing, played some good matches, beat players against whom we have not had good record in the previous matches. But, having said that, we couldn’t play that final, but yeah, overall a good tournament.”