Star Indian shuttlers Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty went down fighting to Chinese duo Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang in the men’s doubles final of the China Masters here on Sunday.
The champion Indian duo lost the first game 19-21, staged a remarkable rally to win the second game 21-18, and made another valiant attempt at a comeback after being down 1-8 before losing the title decider 19-21 in a one-hour, 11-minute battle.
The Indians stood a win away from claiming their second BWF Super 750 title when they took to the court, but the world number one pair of Liang Wei Keng and Wang seized the advantage by running away with the first game.
The Indian pair, gold medallists at the Hangzhou Asian Games, made their way back into the contest by taking the second game and taking the final to the decider.
However, the Chinese kept their composure to emerge triumphant after staving off another excellent comeback from the former world number one Indian duo.
The Chinese pair of Liang and Wang led the head-to-head record, though the Indian duo won their most recent meetings in straight games.