Satwik-Chirag win French Open men's doubles title
Paris (PTI): The star Indian pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty won the French Open Super 750 crown with a straight-game demolition of Chinese Taipei's Lu Ching Yao and Yang Po Han in the men's doubles final here on Sunday.
The world number 8 pair, who had finished runners-up in the 2019 edition, rode on their formidable attack to outwit the 25th ranked Lu and Yang 21-13 21-19 in the summit clash that lasted 48 minutes.
The Indian pair thus continued their dream run this year, which saw them win the Indian Open super 500 title, Commonwealth Games gold, Thomas Cup crown and an unprecedented bronze at the World Championships in August.
It is the pair's third world tour title, following the 2019 Thailand Open Super 500 and India Open Super 500 this year. They are also the first Indian duo to win a super 750 tournament.
In a battle between two attacking teams, it was Satwik and Chirag who emerged victorious as they showed better tactical acumen and hunger to reign supreme over their rivals.
The Indian pair came out all cylinders blazing to jump to a 5-0 lead. They kept moving ahead, not giving any chance to their opponent to make a comeback.
Eventually, it was a great serve by Satwik that helped them to take a six-point cushion at the midgame break.
The Indian duo continued to dominate the fast-paced rallies and earned seven game point opportunities after a series of flat exchanges, and Chirag sealed it on the first chance.
The Taipei pairing needed a good start in the second game and they looked competitive initially, but the Indian duo once again ensured a six-point cushion at the interval.
However, the Indians were guilty of taking the foot away from the pedal as Lu and Yang started taking control of the rallies, narrowing it down to 10-12.
A service error from Lu Ching Yao broke the run of points, but they soon drew parity at 14-14, when Chirag went long. A couple of mistakes from Chirag, including a service error, handed the Taipei combination the lead.
The Indians, however, quickly clawed back at 19-19 after winning a lucky net chord and Yang sending one wide from the net.
They moved to one match point with a towering smash from Satwik, who sealed it with another attacking return.
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Prague (PTI): World champion D Gukesh survived some anxious moments in the early middle game before finally drawing with Hans Moke Niemann of the United States in the first round of the masters section of the Prague International Chess Festival here.
The Berlin defense that went wrong for white could be a perfect heading for the encounter between the world champion and Niemann, who is walking his way to the elite chess circles after being indirectly accused of foul play.
It may be recalled that the American infamously won a game against world number one Magnus Carlsen, which will now be documented in a forthcoming Netflix series.
ALSO READ: Cheating made bigger than it actually is: Gukesh
Niemann came all guns blazing and sacrificed a piece with black piece as early as on move 13 to put Gukesh on the back foot despite having the white pieces.
The Indian was down but not out which he proved as the game progressed, and even though, black seemed like pushing for more with his extra pawns in exchange for the sacrificed knight, Gukesh ensured that he stayed in the game.
The eventual outcome was a draw, the lone one in the 10-player, nine round tournament that saw everyone with white pieces triumph in contrasting styles.
Defending champion Aravindh Chithambaram of India turned out to be on the wrong side of a position against Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan.
The Philidor defense by the Indian generated enough evidence that every opening could be playable only till he walked into a deft manoeuvre.
Aravindh lost in the rook and minor piece endgame after losing one of his pawn, and if that was not enough top seeded Vincent Keymer of Germany was blown away by a resurgent Jorden van Foreest of The Netherlands.
It was another Berlin defense wherein Foreest came out with a new idea that perplexed Keymer. As the opening concluded, the Dutchman had an advantage and he picked up a handful of pawns to register a comprehensive victory.
Also ending on a winning note was Abdusattorov's name sake and teammate Nodirbek Yakubboev who put it across David Anton Gujjaro of Spain, while in the other encounter of the day local favourite Navara David proved stronger against Iranian Parham Maghsoodloo.
In the challengers section, women's world cup winner Divya Deshmukh drew with top seeded Benjamin Gledura of Hungary from a position of strength but Surya Shekhar Ganguly ended on the receiving end against Thomas Beerdsen of The Netherlands.
Results after round 1 Masters: D Gukesh (IND) drew with Hans Moke Niemann (USA); Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) beat Aravindh Chithambaram (IND); Jorden van Foreest (NED) beat Vincent Keymer (GER); David Navara (CZE) beat Parham Maghsoodloo (IRI); Nodirbek Yakubboev beat David Anton Guijarro (ESP).
Challengers: Divya Deshmukh (IND) drew with Benjamin Gledura (HUN); Surya Shekhar Ganguly (IND) lost to Thomas Beersden (NED); Zhu Jiner (CHN) lost to Jachym Nemec (CZE); Daniel Yuffa (ESP) lost to Stepen Hrbek (CZE); Jonas Buhl Bjerre (DEN) drew with Vaclav Finek (CZE).
