Badminton: Satwik-Chirag win fourth title of year at Korea Open
Yeosu (Korea), Jul 23: India's Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty continued their dream run, clinching the men's doubles title at the Korea Open with a gritty three-game win over world number one Fajar Alfian and Muhamad Rian Ardianto in the final here on Sunday.
Playing their fourth final of the year, the world No. 3 Indians rallied their way to a 17-21, 21-13, 21-14 win over the two-time world championships bronze medallists Alfian and Ardianto in a thrilling summit clash of the Super 500 badminton tournament.
"The way we played today in the finals, didn't start off that well but happy that we could win that second game and keep the momentum until the very end. Yes, extremely happy that we could win consecutive titles after the Indonesia Open," Chirag said after the match.
The reigning Commonwealth Games champions thus extended their winning streak to 10 matches. It was another feather feather on their cap, following their victory at the Swiss Open, Asian Championships and Indonesia Open this year.
"It's been pretty good week for us. We played some amazing badminton throughout the week here and I am happy with the performance today. We want to continue with the same momentum next week at Japan Open. So, we'll go back now, rest and focus again," Satwik said.
The Indian pair had a 2-2 head-to-head count against Asian Games silver medallists Alfian and Ardianto but they had beaten the Indonesians on last two occasions.
The Indians looked a little subdued in the beginning as they trailed in the opening game but they recovered in the fag end, narrowing a 10-19 deficit with a six-point burst before falling short.
However, they found the momentum in the second game and dominated the proceedings thereafter to come up trumps.
The Indonesians played flat rallies at a high pace to open up a 4-2 lead early on. The Indians were pegged back as Alfian and Ardianto didn't allow their opponents to mount their attack.
Errors also crept in as Satwik and Chirag conceded a seven-point advantage to their rivals at the break.
The Indians won a few quick points but the Indonesians managed to move away to 16-7 after Ardianto smashed one down the middle.
Another down-the-middle smash from Ardianto took the Indonesians to 19-11. Satwik and Chirag won next three points before playing an exciting rally which ended with the Indonesians going to the net.
A booming jump smash from Satwik further cut down the deficit to three points but he sent one wide to hand four game points to the Indonesians.
The Indians saved one with Chirag's cross court return before Satwik sprayed one to the net.
The second game started on an even keel with the two pairs engaging in some delectable rallies. The Indians infused more power and pace into their game as they started to dominate the proceedings.
The Indians opened up a slender 6-4 lead after a Chirag interception and maintained it till 10-8, with Satwik unleashing his trademark smash.
The Indian duo had a cushion of three points at the break when the Indonesians went wide. A cross court return from the front court from Chirag took them to 17-11.
Soon Satwik and Chirag grabbed nine game points. They squandered two before Chirag sent one down the middle to take the match to the decider.
Satwik and Chirag looked in control in the third game, eking out a 9-6 lead before going into the interval at 11-8.
The Indians were more aggressive and managed to keep the world number 1 pair under the pump.
After resumption, a Chirag interception helped the Indians keep the three-point lead at 13-10. Alfian and Ardianto looked a pale shadow as nothing was going their way.
Satwik and Chirag also dominated the flat exchanges and soon it became 18-12 in favour of the Indians. Alfian produced a superb backhand return but sprayed the next one to the net to hand over seven match points to the Indians.
They wasted one before converting the next, and broke into a Gangnam style dance to celebrate their victory.
Since pairing up, Satwik and Chirag have won multiple titles, including Commonwealth Games gold, Thomas Cup gold, bronze medal in World Championships and collected wins in Super 300 (Syed Modi and Swiss Open), Super 500 (Thailand and India Open), Super 750 (French Open) and Indonesia Open Super 1000.
The BWF World Tour is divided into six levels: World Tour Finals, four Super 1000, six Super 750, seven Super 500, and 11 Super 300.
The other category of the tournament, the BWF Tour Super 100 level, also offers ranking points.
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Noida International Airport appoints Nitu Samra as interim CEO
New Delhi (PTI): Noida International Airport on Friday announced the appointment of its Chief Financial Officer Nitu Samra as the interim Chief Executive Officer after authorities denied permission for foreign national Christoph Schnellmann to be at the helm.
"This change follows directions issued by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) that the Chief Executive Officer of an airport in India is required to be an Indian national," NIA said in a statement.
Samra will replace Schnellmann, a Swiss national who has led Noida International Airport (NIA) as the CEO since August 2020.
The regulatory issue related to the requirement of having an Indian national as CEO has been delaying the start of commercial operations of the airport, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 28.
Schnellmann will join the airport's Board of Directors as Executive Vice Chairman. In this role, he will continue to support the project and its transition to operations, the statement said.
With immediate effect, NIA said Samra has been appointed as the CEO on an interim basis until the Board of Directors can conclude a formal selection process.
Samra has been serving as the CFO since October 2021 and was closely involved in the airport’s development journey, overseeing financial stewardship, governance, and strategic planning during a key phase of the project, the statement added.
NIA will be operated by Yamuna International Airport Pvt Ltd (YIAPL), a subsidiary of Zurich Airport International AG, under a public-private partnership.
Originally scheduled to commence passenger services in September 2024, NIA is being developed in four phases, along with a dedicated cargo terminal. It received an aerodrome license from the aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in March.
YIAPL Chairman Daniel Bircher said that since the inauguration of the airport by the Prime Minister, the goal was to enable the start of operations as early as possible.
"This management change brings the airport into compliance with Bureau of Civil Aviation Security requirements while maintaining continuity in the airport’s leadership team. The newly structured team will support a smooth transition into operations, guided by clear and transparent governance and a strong corporate culture," he said.
On March 28, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said commercial flight operations from the airport would start in the next 45 to 60 days.
Among the largest greenfield airport projects in the country, NIA will initially have a capacity to handle 12 million passengers per annum.
Once fully developed, the airport will have a total passenger handling capacity of 70 million.
The first phase of NIA has been developed at an investment of around Rs 11,200 crore. 'DXN' is the code for the airport.
The airport features a 3,900-metre runway capable of handling wide-body aircraft, along with modern navigation systems, including Instrument Landing System (ILS) and advanced airfield lighting.
The peak handling capacity in the first phase will be 30 flights per hour.
In the first phase, there will be 28 aircraft stands, and the projected cargo capacity is around 2.5 lakh tonnes.
Terminal 1 of the airport is spread across 1,37,985 square metres with 48 check-in counters. Over 40 acres of land have been earmarked for developing MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul) facilities at the airport.
