Taiwan’s Yang Po-han (楊博涵) and Lu Ching-yao (盧敬堯) settled for the runners-up spot at the BWF French Open after losing to India’s Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy in the men’s doubles final on Sunday.

The world No. 25 Taiwanese pair were defeated by the world No. 8 Indian pairing in straight sets 21-13, 21-19 in their first-ever matchup that lasted 49 minutes at the Stade Pierre de Coubertin indoor arena in Paris.

Despite the defeat, this was the Taiwanese duo’s best performance in the World Tour Super 750 tournaments so far as a pair.

Yang said after the match that Shetty and Rankireddy were in better form and had dominated.

“After our coach talked to us, we slowly improved, but in the end, we still missed out on a bit of luck. We still have to work on being more consistent,” Yang said.

Lu echoed that they did not keep up with their opponents right from the start of the match, which made them fall behind early.

“What we did very well today is that even when the situation was not good for us, we kept going. And although we didn’t win, we learned a lot in the process,” Lu said.

The Taiwanese pair trailed early on as their Indian opponents picked up the first five points of the opening game to set the tone.

Shetty and Rankireddy played an aggressive style of badminton to stay ahead for the whole game to close it out with ease.

In the second game, Yang and Lu could not halt the Indians’ momentum as they trailed by six points 11-5 at the mid-game interval.

The Taiwanese pair did manage to tie the game at 14-14 and even reached a 19-17 lead. However, the in-form Shetty and Rankireddy then secured the next four consecutive points to win the game and the title.

The win makes Shetty and Rankireddy the first Indian doubles duo to win a Super 750 crown.

The BWF French Open 2022, one of five World Tour Super 750 events, was held from Oct. 25-30 and carried a total purse of US$675,000 (NT$21.75 million).

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel