Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty on Friday became the first Indian pair to win a medal in the men's doubles competition at the World Championships but HS Prannoy's impressive run ended in agony as he went down narrowly in the men's singles quarterfinals here.
Satwik and Chirag, the world number 7 combination, which had claimed the Commonwealth Games Gold medal earlier this month, stunned the local favourites and defending champions Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi 24-22, 15-21, 21-14 in an hour and 15 minutes to claim its maiden medal at the prestigious tournament.
It is India's second World Championships medal in the doubles event with Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa claiming a Bronze way back in 2011 in the women's doubles.
Overall, it's India's 13th medal at the showpiece with PV Sindhu winning five, including a Gold in 2019, and Saina Nehwal (Silver and Bronze) claiming two. Kidambi Srikanth (Silver), Lakshya Sen (Bronze), B Sai Praneeth (Bronze) and Prakash Padukone (Bronze) were the other medallists.
It could have been double delight for the country but China's Zhao Jun Peng had other plans as he broke Indian hearts with a 19-21, 21-6, 21-18 win over former world number 8 Prannoy, who went down on one knee with his head hanging in disappointment after the gut-wrenching loss.
Earlier, MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila's fine run also ended after the Indian pair lost 8-21, 14-21 to three-time champions Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan in another men's doubles quarterfinals.
Having assured themselves of at least a Bronze, Satwik and Chirag will now face the sixth seeded Malaysian pair of Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik in the semifinals.
We want to finish things on a big note: Satwik
Ecstatic after winning a maiden World Championships medal, India's Satwiksairaj Rankireddy on Friday said the season has been a "dream" for him and his doubles partner Chirag Shetty and the two would look to finish the tournament on a "big" note here.
The world number 7 pair has been simply sensational this year, claiming a super 500 India Open title in January before fashioning India's epic win in Thomas Cup and then winning a maiden Commonwealth Games Gold earlier this month.
"It has been a dream for us, starting with the India Open, the Thomas Cup and then the Commonwealth Games Gold. As I speak, I am feeling so happy and excited," Satwik said after assuring the pair of at least a Bronze here.
"It is a big win for us. We haven't played them (Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi) in a long time. They are the current world champions and we badly wanted to play against them but we are always up against the top seeds Kevin (Sukamuljo) and (Marcus) Gideon in tournaments," Satwik said.
"We were excited as we wanted to see our level against them and I'm very happy with the way we played. We took a revenge on our former coach, Tan Kim Her, so I am happy for that," he added.
Tan Kim Her from Malaysian was instrumental in forming the Indian pair during his stint as India's doubles coach. He is currently coaching the Japanese doubles team.
The Indian combination will meet sixth seeded Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik in the semifinals. Satwik and Chirag had lost to the Malaysian duo during the finals of mixed team event at CWG in Birmingham.
"Here we want to finish it on a big note, not just finish in semifinals but go further. Tomorrow, it will be a revenge match," Satwik said.
Asked where does the medal rank amid their achievements, Chirag said: "We haven't finished the tournament and we want to go all the way but Thomas Cup is up there at the top. If we win it here, it will be at par with the Thomas Cup."