Tokyo: Star Indian men’s doubles pair of Satviksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty created new history by defeating the world number two Japanese pair of Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi in the quarterfinals of the World Badminton Championships here today.
The world number 7 Indian pair, who won gold at the Commonwealth Games earlier this month, put on an impressive display against title contenders and defending champions Japan. India won the match 24-22, 15-21, 21-14 in one hour and 15 minutes and booked their place in the semi-finals. With this, he won a medal for himself in the World Championship for the first time.
This is India’s second medal in doubles at the World Championships. Earlier, the duo of Jawala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa won the bronze medal in women’s doubles in 2011.