Indian badminton players Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have displayed exceptional comeback to claim the China Masters Super 750 crown on Sunday in Shenzhen. World No. 5 Indian men’s doubles duo managed to beat Chinese duo He Ji Ting and Ren Xiang Yu by 11-21, 21-13, 21-17 in a thrilling one hour and ten minutes final match. Following their silver medals in both 2023 and 2025 edition, Satwik and Chirag managed to go one step further in the tournament. This victory is also their second Super 750 crown in the ongoing 2026 season.
Satwik & Chirag Pull Off Remarkable Comeback
The Indian duo faced tough times in the first game when He & Ren started off quickly with some fast attacking shots. The Chinese duo got off to a flying start taking a five-point lead which they maintained with their smashing and flat hits.
Satwik and Chirag found it hard to cope with the tempo and were trailing by six points at the break. They lost the lead further to lose the first game by 21-11.
However, the second game saw the Indians come back fighting. They played a better defensive game and also used Satwik’s variation with flick serves to trouble the Chinese duo. Finally, they managed to dominate and won the game 21-13.
Match Deciding Game Tight Up Until End
The match decider game started off well for He and Ren who managed to build a quick 4-0 lead and then 7-3 lead.
Satwik and Chirag were not going to let this game get away from them. They managed to narrow the deficit and equalized the score at 7-7 before taking a slim lead into the interval.
Satwik and Chirag stayed in touch throughout this game after the interval. Several exchanges of flat shuttles kept this game evenly poised as none wanted to lose their way.
Coming from a deficit of 13-15, Satwik and Chirag managed to claw back into this game. They managed to equalize the game at 16-16 and take a slender 18-17 lead following an error from He Ji Ting who hit the shuttle into the net.
Three match points came thanks to another lucky net cord for the Indians who won the tournament via a smashing shot from Chirag.
2026’s Second Major Title
Winning the China Masters is the second major title for the Indian duo this year, besides having reached the finals of the Singapore Open Super 750 and the Thailand Open Super 500.
The most important aspect of this win is that the duo of Satwik and Chirag had made it to the final of the China Masters two years back, in 2023 and 2025, only to come runners-up on both occasions.
The most crucial part of their achievement comes from the fact that this win comes just ahead of the Asian Games in Japan, which is scheduled to start from September 19.
China Duo’s Return to Form
He Ji Ting and Ren Xiang Yu progressed to the finals as underdogs since the pair was ranked 70th in the world after the long absence of He from international play due to disciplinary action by the Chinese Badminton Association.
This was just the third competition that He Ji Ting had participated in since being punished for disciplinary reasons by his national body. However, despite the ranking, the Chinese duo came strong into the final match.
Nevertheless, Satwik and Chirag have retained their unbeaten record against He and Ren, winning all three matches against the Chinese duo so far.
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