"WR1 now seems a possibility" - Fans erupt as Satwiksairaj Rankireddy & Chirag Shetty claim 4th title of the year at Korea Open

Social media was abuzz on Sunday, July 23, as India's premier men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty clinched the Korea Open title. The Super 500 triumph in Yeosu gave the World No. 3 duo their fourth title of the season after success earlier in the year at the Swiss Open, Badminton Asia Championships, and the Indonesia Open.

The Indian duo also made history with their latest achievement as they became the first pair from the country to win a title at the Korea Open.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty had been on a roll all week. They accounted for World No. 5 pair of Takuro Hoki/Yugo Kobayashi in the quarter-finals, World No. 2 team of Liang Wei Keng/Wang Chang in the semi-finals before beating the top-ranked combine of Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto in the final.

The summit clash didn't turn out to be straightforward for the high-flying Indians. Rankireddy and Shetty had to work their way back from a game down to secure a 17-21, 21-13, 21-14 win that took one hour and two minutes to complete.

With the Indian boys exuding a lot of determination in their come-from-behind victory, badminton fans on Twitter are confident that they will climb to the pinnacle of the world rankings very soon. Congratulatory messages poured in from all quarters, praising their consistency, as Rankireddy and Shetty added yet another feather to their cap.

Here are some of the best reactions:

Consistent conquerors 👑

@Shettychirag04 | @satwiksairaj

📸: @badmintonphoto

#IndiaontheRise
#Badminton pic.twitter.com/k5oG8lxB8T

🇮🇳's 𝐍𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐨 𝐔𝐧𝐨 ☝️

The Dazzling Duo Satwik-Chirag claimed the 🔝 spot in the #KoreaOpen2023 by defeating the 🇮🇩 duo🔥

This is their 3️⃣rd #BWFWorldTour Super 500 title 🥳 and the #TOPScheme Athletes are now 1⃣st 🇮🇳 pair to win #KoreaOpen 🏆

They never fail to… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… pic.twitter.com/2Tui1KUEgB" target="_blank" title="tweet-url" rel="noopener noreferrer">pic.twitter.com/2Tui1KUEgB" target="_blank" title="tweet-url" rel="noopener noreferrer">pic.twitter.com/2Tui1KUEgB

This Korea Open should be special because of consistency and the road to finals is no joke crossed quality players to secure the champpionship stsge . Well done boys 🇮🇳💪🏽 twitter.com/mohit_shah17/s…

What a road to title for Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty

QF: Beat world no 5 & former world champions Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi
SF: Beat world no 2 & World Tour no 1 Lian Wei Keng-Wang Chang
F Beat world no 1 & Worlds 🥉 Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto

#KoreaOpen2023

Difficult to find more consistent athletes than Neeraj & Satwik-Chirag playing for India currently.

#SatwiksairajRankireddy #ChiragShetty #NeerajChopra

🥇🏸 𝗛𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗬 𝗠𝗔𝗗𝗘! Satwik and Chirag claimed victory at the Korea Open 2023 final, defeating Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto of Indonesia.

🤩 The dou etched their names in badminton history as the first-ever Indian pair to claim the Korea Open title.

📷… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… pic.twitter.com/wHnitlxLsS

Chirag / Satwik beat the top seeds Alfian / Ardianto and are the Champions in Korea.

Fittingly end with another Gangnam Style celebration that they have entertained the crowds with in this week.

Satwik-Chirag win KOREA OPEN🏆
To say they are playing great will be an understatement.
They are playing World Class
World Number 1 blown away for Second time In row.
Take a bow big boys
Scripting more and more history
Just 5 matches away now from Becoming the new WN - #1 pic.twitter.com/lZ0s87CK9U

Another Sunday, Another Title for Satwik/Chirag 🥳🥳🥳
And Hats Off to their consistency👏👏
Surely WR1 now seems a possibility 🤩 pic.twitter.com/Wy4iGuezuM

🏆 𝙎𝙖𝙩𝙬𝙞𝙠-𝘾𝙝𝙞𝙧𝙖𝙜 𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮!

👉 They become the first Indian Men's Doubles pair to win the 🥇 at the Korea Open.

💙 Death, taxes, and Satwik-Chirag making the nation proud! 🇮🇳

@satwiksairaj @Shettychirag04 @BAI_Media @BadmintonJust @BadmintonTalk… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… pic.twitter.com/BFwhEzhB7Q

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy & Chirag Shetty will now aim for Japan Open title

With back-to-back titles at the Indonesia Open and the Korea Open, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty are now on a 10-match winning streak. They have a chance to extend their streak further next week as they set their sights on winning the Japan Open, a Super 750 tournament that gets underway in Tokyo on July 25.

The Indians are seeded third at the Japan Open and kick off their campaign against the Indonesian combine of Leo Rolly Carnando/Daniel Marthin.