Asian Games 2023: Satwik-Chirag give historic gold medal to India – Dainik Savera Times

Hangzhou: India’s golden journey continues in the 19th Asian Games being played in Hangzhou, China. On Saturday, India not only made a record of crossing 100 in the medal tally for the first time but also won the badminton gold medal for the first time in the Asian Games. In the badminton men’s doubles final, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty won India’s first badminton gold medal in the Asian Games by defeating South Korea’s Choi Solgyu and Kim Wonhoo 21-18, 21-16.

It is noteworthy that before this, India had never won a gold medal in the badminton competition of the Asian Games. India’s star shuttler PV Sindhu won the silver medal in the women’s singles event at the Jakarta 2018 Asian Games. The world number three Indian pair achieved a historic feat by defeating the South Korean pair 21-18, 21-16 in 56 minutes of play.

Choi and Kim faced India’s top seeded pair courageously. Meanwhile, Satwik and Chirag hit some good drop shots, smashes and backhand shots to win the first game 21-18 in 29 minutes. The second game was also very exciting and both the teams made continuous efforts but the Indian players maintained a lead of 11-8 till the break against the opposing pair.

After this, the Indian pair forced the opposition team to make mistakes by continuously hitting many brilliant shots. Choi Solgyu and Kim Wonhoo added 8 points to their score after the break but Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty won the second game 21-16 to give India a historic gold medal.

It is noteworthy that earlier the Indian men’s team had won the silver medal and HS Prannoy had won the bronze medal in men’s singles, however, after two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu lost in the quarterfinals, the Indian challenge in the women’s singles event ended on Thursday. Was. Thus, India ended its campaign in Asian Games 2023 badminton with three medals which include one gold, one silver and one bronze medal.