Satwik-Chirag rises to 2nd spot on the BWF World Rankings

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who played an epic final at the China Masters Super 750 last week, rose three places to be ranked second in the latest BWF World Rankings on Tuesday.

Satwik and Chirag lost the China Masters final to world no. 1 Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang after saving six match points.

Liang and Wang led 10-3 in the deciding third game. They had seven match points at 20-13. When it looked all over for the Indian pair, and the Chinese were poised to win the final, Satwik and Chirag collected one after another point with their calm style of play.

At 19-20, it was anybody's game. Then came a fast and sharp return from Wang, and Chirag tried to play an angled shot which ruffled the net. The Chinese sank to their knees, while Chirag fell on his back in disbelief.

Despite their 19-21, 21-18, 19-21 defeat, the never-say-die attitude of Satwik and Chirag in a 71-minute thriller was a testament to what they are up to. They belonged to the top of the world in men's doubles.

Satwik and Chirag, who created history on October 10 when they attained the world no. 1 rank after winning the Asian Games gold in Hangzhou, had slipped to fifth place after first-round exits at the Denmark Open and Japan Masters. At the French Open, they lost in the second round.

Now, this magnificent performance in Shenzhen propelled them to the second spot right behind Liang and Wang.

This demonstrates they are right on course for another magnificent season in 2024, which has the Paris Olympics in roaster.

In 2023, Satwik and Chirag created many firsts for Indian badminton. They won the Swiss Open, a Super 1000 event at the Indonesia Open and followed that up with a Super 500 title at the Korea Open.

Further, their Asian Games gold in October, Indian badminton's first in the continental showpiece, raised them to the world no. 1 ranking. This stunning feat came after the poster boys of Indian badminton won the Badminton Asia Championships men's doubles title in April.

Meanwhile, in men's singles, HS Prannoy has remained India's top-ranked player at the eighth spot, while Lakshya Sen is ranked 17th. Kidambi Srikanth is placed at the 24th spot as Priyanshu Rajawat dropped one place to be ranked 31st.

In women's singles, PV Sindhu is India's number-one shuttler at the 12th spot. In women's doubles, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand are India's highest-ranked pair at the 19th spot.

Rohan Kapoor and N Sikki Reddy are India's top-ranked pair in mixed doubles at 39th position.