The professional men’s doubles team from India reached the semifinals of the BWF World Badminton Championships in Paris. They were fighting the Chinese team of Chen Bo Yang and Liu Yi for a chance to play for Gold, and after an exhaustive match, their 67 minutes of labour boil down to bronze when they came short 19-21, 21-18, 12-21.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy And Chirag Shetty’s Match Preview
Satwik and Chirag won what was a hard fought first game, pulling ahead early and leading with a 11-5, but the Chinese players made a solid comeback and with some very critical timings, they took the first game 24-19, with India edging the second game 21-18, but the Chinese team ultimately dominated in the final total collapse taking a crippling 9-0 lead that would ultimately crush India. In losing the semifinals, Satwik and Chirag extended Indias consecutive medals won at the World Championships since 2011, while being only the 3rd men’s Indian doubles team to win multiple World Championship medals, alongside with PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal.
Second Bronze Medal In The World Championships
Reflecting on their performance, Chirag said they lost continuity and made mistakes when they were pressured, particularly by the way the Chinese team played their flick serves with precision and their ability to place punches deep to break India’s rhythm. Satwik noted a difference in demeanor and body language, they showed flashes of brilliance at times, whereas their opponents had completely steady momentum as a couple throughout the match. Satwik and Chirag earned themselves a second bronze medal in the World Championships. The bronze they gained at the 2022 World Championships was a first foundation to their doubles journey. Since then, on an ongoing basis, with world rankings and as ambassadors to doubles badminton in India. It is evident, their Paris campaign strengthened their brand as one of the most effective and successful pairing on tour and demonstrates they are still very much a serious global challenger for World titles and are on the right path to Paris 2028.
Now with two World Championship bronzes, the stories of Satwik and Chirag embody not just the expanding scope of doubles badminton in India, but there’s promise for potential even bigger stories to come. While the Chinese wall couldn‘t be breached this time, their love for the game and consistency show that the bronze is yet another stepping stone to their gold.
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