Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty ended their first win of the season by clinching the prestigious BWF French Open 2024 title on Sunday. The top-ranked pair defeated Lee Jhe-Huei and Yang Po-Hsuan of Chinese Taipei 21-13, 21-16 in straight games in the men's doubles.
Having lost straight three BWF finals, the world no.1 pair dominated their opponents with an easy win in 36 minutes. The Asian Games gold medalists were famously beaten in the finals of the Malaysia Masters (Super 1000) and Indian Open (Super 750) in January this year but ended their final hoodoo ahead of the Paris Olympics 2024.
This was the seventh BWF World Tour title for Satwik-Chirag and the second at the French Open Super 750 having won the previous in 2019.
“It feels really sweet," Chirag said. "Paris has always been special for us and we have always played good badminton here and it has been a second home for us. It is a test venue for the Olympics but that is still some months away. I would be lying if I say that I am not enjoying that (winning at the Olympic venue) but we have won this final. There is another tournament next week, so looking forward to that.”
"It all started from Thomas Cup and it became a habit and it has been a long time since we danced," Satwik said. "It is after fourth finals. We just wanted to go and have fun and let them earn points and the match. We wanted to give our 100 percent and enjoy. Even Mathias (Boe) kept telling us to have fun and we got back our rhythm and the momentum changed."
BWF French Open Super 750 winners:
- Men's singles - Shi Yu Qi (China) beat Kunlavut Vitidsarn
- Women's singles - An Si Young (South Korea) beat Akane Yamaguchi
- Men's doubles - Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty (India) beat Lee Jhe-Huei-Yang Po-Hsuan
- Women's doubles - Chen Qing Chen-Jia Yi Fan (China) beat Nami Masuyama-Chiharu Shida
- Mixed doubles - Feng Yan Zhe-Huang Dong Ping (China) beat Seo Seung Jae-Chae Yu Jung
