Kang-Tai had handed Satwik-Chirag a shock loss at the All England. (Badminton Photo)

India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty are in the curated attack phase of their career, where they don’t take their big smashing abilities for granted, and use it judiciously. While tamping down on Malaysian upstarts Kang Khai Xing and Aaron Tai, the Indian duo who have been forced to adapt and evolve, found other ways to collect points, and get the job done.

As such they scored fewer points (94-95), as compared to the highly touted Malaysians, aged 20 & 21 while winning 19-21, 21-17, 21-13, quite comfortably. The gamestyle is also energy-efficient, though even a mellow Satwik can cause enough damage with his soft kills, as much as a menacing one.…