Satwik-Chirag bring India first Asiad badminton gold

World No.3 combine smash aside Korean rivals in straight games to win their fifth title of the year

- SHANTANU SRIVASTAV

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty entered the Binjiang Gymnasium to a welcome befitting rockstars and 57 minutes later with Shetty having flung his sweaty jersey to an adoring crowd and both players having dispensed with their racquets deep into the stands - they were dancing to the tune of Bollywood hit 'Dangal'.

In between, they wrote a bit of history, smashing aside their South Korean opponents to become the first Indians to win a badminton gold in any discipline at the Asian Games.

Their 21-18, 21-16 win also ended India's 41-year wait for an Asiad medal in men's doubles, the last success coming in the form of a bronze by the pair of Leroy D'Sa and Pradeep Gandhe in the 1982 edition. Satwik and Chirag stuck to their typical attacking game and uncorked the smashes early but Choi Solgyu and Kim Wonho stuck to their guns. Although the Koreans led for the better part of the first game, at no stage did the Indians look troubled. The air of inevitability, that hallmark of true genius, never deserted them.