Satwik-Chirag surpasses Saina's record, enters 10th straight week as world no.1

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty achieved a unique feat on Tuesday as they held their world no. 1 ranking for tenth consecutive week, surpassing the Indian record of legendary Saina Nehwal.

Saina became the first Indian shuttler to attain the world no. 1 ranking in women's singles on August 20, 2015, and stayed in the position for nine weeks till October 21 that year.

In men's singles, Kidambi Srikanth became the first Indian shuttler to attain the world no. 1 ranking on April 12, 2017, following his massive four Super Series title-winning show in a year. Srikanth, however, survived at the spot only for a week.

Satwik-Chirag became the first Indian pair to attain the world no. 1 ranking on October 10, 2023, following their historic Asian Games gold medal. It was India's maiden Asiad gold in badminton.

They, however, were toppled from the position after just three weeks as China's Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang rose to the top spot on October 31. They remained at the position on the back of their China Masters Super 750 title-winning show where the Chinese duo beat Satwik-Chirag in the final.

The Indian pair reclaimed the top spot on January 23 this year following their back-to-back runners-up finishes at the Malaysia Open Super 1000 and India Open Super 750.

Although Satwik-Chirag lost to Liang-Wang in the final of the Malaysia Open, and Kang Min Hyuk and Seo Seung Jee in the subsequent India Open Super 750 final in two gruelling three-gamers, they benefited from showing sheer consistency in the toughest discipline of badminton.

When Satwik-Chirag leapfrogged China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang for the top spot in the rankings, they had 95861 points.

At the French Open Super 750, they reached their fourth final on World Tour on the trot and third in 2024, and this time, Satwik-Chirag prevailed over Chinese Taipei's Lee Jhe-Huei and Yang Po-Hsuan in straight games to reclaim the title after winning it for the first time in 2022.

With this feat, Satwik and Chirag achieved another stunning feat, becoming the first men's doubles pair to achieve 102,303 points. To demonstrate their domination at the top of the world rankings, it must be told that the second-ranked South Korean pair of Kang and Seo have 97,261 after playing 23 tournaments, four more than the Indian duo.

Though Satwik-Chirag made a disappointing second-round exit from the All England Open badminton championships, it did not shake off their position at the peak of the pole.