Indian men’s doubles pair of Stok-Chirag (Photo: ANI)
Satok Sairaj Rankireddy And Chirag Shetty reached his first final of the 2026 season at the Thailand Open Super 500 in Bangkok on Saturday after defeating Malaysia’s Goh Saze Fei and Noor Ezzedine in a thrilling semi-final.The Indian pair, who entered the tournament as world No. 4 seeds, staged a brilliant comeback to win 19-21, 22-20, 21-16 in a thrilling contest that lasted one hour and 22 minutes. With the victory, Satuk and Chirag improved their record against the Malaysian duo to 8-2.After PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen’s early exit from the tournament, the Indian men’s doubles pair dashed the country’s hopes in Bangkok – and faced a lot of pressure in front of a packed and enthusiastic crowd.The semi-final opened with Malaysia in early control as Goh and Izzedine raced to a 3-1 lead in the opening game. Satuk and Chirag leveled the scores at 7-7, but some communication errors allowed the Malaysian duo to regain momentum. Goh and Azuddin took a brief lead midway through the game and later extended their lead to 18-12.Although the Indians made a late comeback with four straight points, Malaysia held their nerve to end the first game 21-19.The second game turned into a battle of intense intensity with both pairs frequently exchanging momentum. This time, Satuk and Chirag looked much more composed, having resolved the coordination issues that had plagued them earlier. A key four-point burst helped the Indians take an 11-9 lead into the break.After the break, the Malaysian duo hit back strongly and briefly took control, but Satuk and Chirag responded aggressively to take the lead once again. Even after the Indians took two game points, Goh and Azuddin saved both to tie the score at 20-20, ending a tense standoff.The closing moments sparked one of the most exciting rallies of the tournament, with relentless attacking exchanges and brilliant defense from both teams. Satvik finally sealed the game with a superb winner that the Malaysians could not reach, giving the Indians a dramatic 22-20 victory.Carrying the momentum from the second game, the Indian pair dominated the decider with aggressive play and better control of the net. They led for most of the final game before comfortably wrapping up a memorable 21-16 win to book their place in Sunday’s final.Satuk and Chirag will now face Indonesia’s Liu Ruli Carnando and Daniel Marthan or China’s He Jie Ting and Ren Xiangyu.
