Badminton World Federation: Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, India’s top men’s doubles pair, have risen to a career-high second place in the latest Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings following their recent victory at the Korea Open. Satwik and Chirag’s outstanding performance in the Korea Open propelled them into the rankings, displacing the Chinese duo of Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, whom they defeated in the semi-finals.
In 2023, Shetty and Rankireddy demonstrated their prowess by clinching several titles. They won their first title as a pair in the Swiss Open, defeating the Chinese pair of Ren Xiangyu and Tan Qiang in the final. They also emerged victorious at the Badminton Asia Championships held in Dubai, earning the title of Asian Champions. Their winning streak continued at the Indonesia Open, where they defeated Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik to secure their first BWF World Super 1000 title. This victory marked them as the first men’s doubles pair from India to win the event. Their success didn’t stop there; they went on to win the 2023 Korea Open, defeating the Indonesian pair Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto.
In 2022, they started the year by winning the India Open and were part of India’s Thomas Cup-winning team. Despite losing the first game to the Indonesian duo of Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo and Mohammad Ahsan, they displayed immense perseverance to win the second game and close out the third game, giving India a 2-0 lead over Indonesia. This was pivotal in helping India bag its maiden Thomas Cup trophy.
