Satwik-Chirag withdraws from Badminton Asia Championships due to injury

Star Indian shuttlers Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have pulled out of the Badminton Asia Championships which starts next week due to an injury.

The duo has decided to opt out of the tournament due to a recurring shoulder injury to Satwik.

Satwik-Chirag has been in brilliant form this season, having won the French Open Super 750 tournament and finishing as runner-up at the India Open Super 750 and Malaysia Open Super 1000.

As reported by PTI, it is an old injury that happened due to overuse of the shoulder and Satwik is already on his road to recovery. The duo is training with less intensity as the injury flared up during the European leg.

"Thomas Cup remains an important event and they will be back for the prestigious tournament as India are the defending champion," a source told PTI.

Last year in April, Satwik and Chirag, currently ranked world number one, made history by breaking a 58-year-old drought as they became the first Indians after Dinesh Khanna to be crowned champions at the Asia Badminton Championships in Dubai.

Satwik and Chirag are currently in their 10th week as world number one, surpassing Saina Nehwal's record of nine successive weeks at the top of BWF rankings.

Earlier today, Satwik and Chirag have been named India's strong Thomas Cup team which will look to defend their title in China from April 27.

The withdrawal of the top pair means HS Prannoy, Lakshya Sen, and PV Sindhu will now lead India's charge at the prestigious tournament.