Satwik-Chirag Duo Advances to 2025 Hong Kong Open Final After Defeating Taiwanese Pair

India’s Lakshya Sen reached his first major final in two years by defeating Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien Chen in straight sets. Meanwhile, the men’s doubles team of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also advanced to the final on Saturday.

The 23-year-old from Almora, who won a bronze at the 2021 World Championships, secured a title shot with a hard-fought 23-21, 22-20 victory over world No. 9 and third seed Chou in a demanding 56-minute semifinal.

The Commonwealth Games champion last won a Super 500 event at the Canada Open in July 2023 and claimed a Super 300 title at the Syed Modi International in Lucknow last December. Currently ranked world No. 20, Lakshya will face China’s second seed Li Shi Feng in the final.

In men’s doubles, the world No. 9 duo of Satwik and Chirag defeated Chinese Taipei’s Bing-Wei Lin and Chen Cheng-Kuan 21-17, 21-15, marking their first final of the season after six semifinal disappointments. They will compete against China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, the Paris Olympics silver medalists.

“Finals, at last. It’s been seven semifinals since the China Open last year. We’ve been consistently reaching the semifinals, and we really wanted to play a final. It’s been a while,” Chirag said.

“The last final was the Thailand Open, probably in May, before the Olympics. We were eager to perform well here, and we’re really happy. There’s still one more match to go, but overall it’s been a positive final journey,” he added.

Lakshya displayed keen insight into his opponent’s attack during their close-to-an-hour contest, maintaining a lead for most of the match. He started strong with a 3-0 lead, but the 35-year-old Chou stayed in pursuit before Lakshya secured a four-point advantage at the break.

Chou made a comeback to 12-12 with four straight points. They exchanged powerful shots, with Lakshya showing solid defense. However, a service fault gave Chou a 15-14 lead.

The Taiwanese player made errors at the net and followed up with a cross-court smash, eventually falling behind 18-15. Though Chou questioned a double hit during a net dribble, the umpire decided otherwise. Chou leveled the score at 18-18 after another error from Lakshya.

At 19-19, a 51-shot rally ended with Chou hitting the net, but he leveled the score again at 20-20 with excellent defensive play. Lakshya earned another game point, which he capitalized on through a net cord.

In the second set, after a 3-3 start, Lakshya fell behind 4-7 due to some errors, with Chou extending his lead. Lakshya fought back, saving two game points before clinching another victory with an impressive defensive shot and a net cord.

In the doubles match, after a closely contested start at 3-3 and 6-6, Satwik’s smashes and Chirag’s interceptions helped India move ahead to an 11-8 lead. Despite a brief comeback from the Taiwanese team, India seized the game on their second game point.

The second set saw Chen and Lin begin stronger at 4-2, only for India to draw level at 6-6. Errors from Chirag gave the Taiwanese a 10-8 advantage, but Satwik’s powerful smash leveled the score at 12-all. The Indians then tightened control, leading 17-15, before a net error by Chen granted India five match points, which they converted swiftly after the Taiwanese team went long.

Published on September 13, 2025