Satwik-Chirag Vs Chia-Soh, China Open 2025: Malaysian Duo Dominate Sat-Chi In Straight-Games Win

India’s top doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty bowed out of the China Open Super 1000 badminton tournament after suffering a straight-game defeat to Malaysian second seeds Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik in the semifinals on Saturday.

The Asian Games champions once again found themselves on the losing side against the world No. 2 Malaysian duo, who have proven to be a persistent hurdle in their path.

Satwik and Chirag went down 13-21 17-21 to 2022 World champions and two-time Olympic bronze medallists Aaron and Soh.

This was the 14th meeting between the two pairs, with the Malaysians maintaining a dominant head-to-head record. Notably, Aaron and Soh had also ousted the Indian pair in the quarterfinals of the Tokyo Olympics.

Despite the setback, Satwik and Chirag can take heart from another strong campaign at the Super 1000 level. The Indian pair had booked their place in the semifinals with a hard-fought win over another Malaysian duo, Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi, in the quarters on Friday.

It has been a season of consistent performances for the Indian pair, who also reached the semifinals of the India Open, Singapore Open, and Malaysia Open earlier this year.

While they have yet to convert those deep runs into titles in 2024, their steady presence in the business end of major tournaments keeps them among the top contenders on the circuit. They also reached the quarterfinals at the Indonesia Open and suffered a second-round exit at the Japan Open last week.