Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty stormed into their first final of the 2026 season after defeating Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin in a thrilling semifinal at the Thailand Open Super 500 tournament in Bangkok on Saturday.
The top-seeded Indian pair fought back strongly to register a hard-fought 19-21, 22-20, 21-16 victory in a contest that lasted one hour and 22 minutes. With the win, Satwik and Chirag improved their head-to-head record against the Malaysian duo to 8-2.
With PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen already out of the tournament, the responsibility of carrying India’s hopes rested entirely on the men’s doubles pair, who handled the pressure impressively in front of a vocal crowd.
The Indians were aiming to reach their first final since the China Masters in 2025 and move closer to winning their first title after the Thailand Open triumph in 2024.
The Malaysian pair started brightly and quickly took control of the opening game. Although Satwik and Chirag managed to level the scores midway, a few communication lapses and unforced errors allowed Goh and Izzuddin to regain momentum.
The Malaysians entered the break with an advantage and later stretched their lead to 18-12, appearing firmly in control. However, the Indian pair produced a late fightback and reduced the gap with a series of aggressive rallies. Despite the comeback, the Malaysians managed to hold on and take the first game 21-19.
The second game turned into a tense battle with both teams exchanging leads regularly. Satwik and Chirag looked far more settled and composed, fixing the communication issues that troubled them earlier.
After taking a narrow lead into the mid-game interval, the Indians continued to attack aggressively and slowly gained control. The Malaysians fought back bravely and even saved two game points to level the score at 20-20.
What followed was one of the best rallies of the tournament, with both pairs producing superb defence and quick exchanges at the net. Satwik eventually finished the point with a perfectly placed winner as the Indians edged the game 22-20 to force a decider.
Carrying the momentum into the final game, Satwik and Chirag dominated most of the rallies and maintained control throughout before sealing the match 21-16 to book their place in the final.
The Indian duo will now face either Indonesia’s Leo Rolly Carnando and Daniel Marthin or China’s He Ji Ting and Ren Xiang Yu in Sunday’s final.