By Admin 
For a pair which reclaimed its World No. 1 ranking in men’s doubles badminton as early as May 2024, finishing with a World championships bronze (August 2025) and reaching back-to-back finals at the Hong Kong Open and China Masters (September 2025) wouldn’t be considered as a big achievement.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who have dropped to World No. 6, are aware of the huge expectations and working hard to match them.
“It’s not been the most ideal year. Whatever we have been through personally (Satwik’s father demise in February) and professionally (Satwik’s shoulder injury and Chirag’s back issues), we have played much better than our own expectations. In that sense, it’s been a good year. A lot of people think we have to keep playing in finals and win titles. A crown is still to be won this season… we are hungry and a title will eventually come,” said the 28-year-old Chirag.
The two, encouraged by the positive results, are eager to regain the top ranking and also book a spot in the BWF World Tour Finals (WTF) in Hangzhou from December 17 to 21.
“We want to qualify the World Tour Finals as it is one of the big events on the calendar. We have played in the WTF only once (2021). I think right now we are in a good place to make it. We also want to go deep in the tournament.”
For Satwik, too, getting back to World No. 1 is top priority. “We want to play a little more consistently and that has happened in the past few weeks. Of course, getting back to World No. 1 is always there. We have tasted it and want to taste it again,” he said.