The Indian badminton men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty stormed into the final of the 2025 Hong Kong Open Super 500 on Friday.
Rankireddy and Shetty registered a straight games 21-17, 21-15 win over Chinese Taipei’s Chen Cheng Kuan and Lin Bing-Wei in the semi-finals.
The win marked a first final appearance for Rankireddy and Shetty in the 2025 season. They had faced five semi-final exits, including the 2025 BWF World Championships, prior to this.
In fact, the final at 2025 Hong Kong Open Super 500 marks the former world No 1 pair’s first title clash since the Thailand Open Super 500, where they won the title, in May last year.
Rankireddy and Shetty, who entered the tournament after a bronze medal finish at the 2025 BWF World Championships, were never really in trouble against the Chinese Taipei shuttlers.
In a match filled with short and fast paced rallies, the Indian pair romped home in just 38 minutes.
Lakshya Sen wins
Later in the day, Lakshya Sen beat against Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei 23-21, 22-20 in the men’s singles semi-finals.
The win meant that Sen advanced to his first Super 500 final since the Canada Open more than two years ago in July 2023.
Sen had a good start to the match and led 12-8 in the first game. Chou, however, fought back to equalise at 19-19.
A tiring 51-shot rally ensued, which fell in Sen’s favour as he led 20-19 in the opening game.
The Chinese Taipei shuttler made life difficult for Sen as he drew level once again before Sen won the first game 23-21.
In the second game, Sen trailed 17-20.
Even as Chou looked to force a decider, Sen won five points in a row to turn the tables and pocket the match 23-21, 22-20 in 56 minutes.
