The men’s badminton doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty is one of India’s biggest medal hopes from Paris Games. The duo has been in excellent form this year becoming the first from India to be ranked no. 1 in the world in their category.
That Satwik and Chirag will one day become such a successful badminton pairing was a far-fetched dream when they first joined forces. In fact, long before joining forces, they were competing with different partners. And one report even claims they weren’t even interested in playing together!
The Andhra-born Satwik and Mumbai-born Chirag could hardly communicate thanks to the language barrier. In fact, they seldom spoke during their matches initially but steadily, as they began boding, the channels of communications opened giving way to on-court success.
Each of them had a speciality when they first teamed up. Chirag was known for his net while and Satwik for his back-court game. They developed their all-round skills and consequently, became a force to be reckoned with.
The result? Historic title win at Thomas Cup, Asian Games gold, a CWG gold, medal at world championships, first Indian pair to win Super 750 event and more.
What has been delightful is their never-say-die attitude that has helped them close out close contests and holding their own in high profile tournaments.
- Age: Chirag Shetty (27), Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (23)
- Sports/Discipline: Badminton (Men’s Doubles)
- World Rankings: Five
- First Olympic Games: Tokyo 2020
Major Achievements
- World Championships: Bronze (Men’s Doubles, 2022)
- Thomas Cup: Gold (Men’s Team, 2022)
- Asian Games: Gold (Men’s Doubles, 2022)
- Asian Championships: Gold (Men’s Doubles, 2023)
- Commonwealth Games: Gold (Men’s Doubles 2022)
Paris Olympics Qualification
The badminton qualifications for Olympics are determined by rankings over a specified period. Race to Paris Rankings considered performances from between May 1, 2023 and April 28, 2024. Based on that, top-16 pairs (at max two from each country) in this rankings made the cut for Paris. Satwig-Chirag finished third in this race to punch their tickets for the Summer Games this year.
Recent Performances
In 2024, the pair reached the finals of the Malaysian Open and Indian Open but finished runners-up on both the occasions. They again made it to the title clash of a Super 750 event – French Open – and this time, won the competition. Last year, they won their first ever BWF World Super 1000 title in Indonesia Open besides winning gold at Badminton Asia Championships.
Event Date And Time (in IST)
- July 27th: Men’s Doubles Group Stage (12 PM Onwards)
- July 28th: Men’s Doubles Group Stage (12 PM Onwards)
- July 29th: Men’s Doubles Group Stage (12 PM Onwards)
- July 30th: Men’s Doubles Group Stage (12 PM Onwards)
- July 31st: Men’s Doubles Group Stage (12 PM Onwards)
- August 1st: Men’s Doubles Quarterfinals (4:30 PM Onwards)
- August 2nd: Men’s Doubles Semifinals (12 PM Onwards)
- August 4th: Men’s Doubles Final (6:30 PM Onwards)
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