Shetty and Rankireddy have achieved a series of firsts for Indian badminton, including a stint at being world no. 1
Chirag Shetty (left) and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy at the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad. Photography: Vikas Chandra Pureti for Forbes India; Styling: Rekha Boggarrapu & Team Niharika Varma; Makeup: Sahara
On a Wednesday afternoon, their half-day off from training, Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy are sprawled on familiar territory, the badminton court, but facing an unfamiliar foe, the camera. Seated on the centre T of a court at the Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad, with their backs to each other, the top Indian doubles pair awaits instructions from the photographer. But minutes before the shutters are to go off, the duo, popularly called Sat-Chi, decides to start shoulder-wrestling, trying to outpower each other, swinging back and forth on either side.
In some other universe, this could very well have been two impish kids trying to disrupt the class from the backbench. But this, to quote a cliche, is Sat-Chi’s universe and we are just living in it, soaking in a moment of comic relief as perfectly timed as their smashes.
From being one of the most reluctant pairs when they started, Shetty and Rankireddy now are among the world’s most formidable, having bagged a string of firsts over the last year and a half for a country that hasn’t had much of a history in doubles to write home about despite producing stellar singles players over decades. The duo began 2022 by winning the India Open and played a crucial role in India’s historic maiden victory at the Thomas Cup. They followed it up by being the first Indian doubles pair to win the Commonwealth Games gold, the first to medal at the World Championships, and, again, the first to win a Super 750 event, at the French Open.
But 2022 wasn’t just a flash in the pan. It was the start of a smouldering streak that continued with the victory at the Asian Championships in Dubai in 2023, winning India’s first-ever doubles gold medal in the Asian Games, becoming the first doubles pair to win a marquee Super 1000 tournament (at the Indonesia Open), and, also, emerging victorious at the Korea and Swiss Opens. The duo was also briefly ranked World No. 1 after the Asian Games victory, before they slid to No. 5 following an early exit from the French Open.
Shetty and Rankireddy wrapped up the year as World No. 2 (as of December 5) after their runners-up finish in the China Open pushed them up a few spots—the loss in the final was their only one in the last nine title clashes. And despite failing to make the cut for the BWF World Finals—as they lost points after facing injury setbacks early in the year, and also since points for Asian Games and the Asian championships don’t count for this event—there’s no denying that their achievements through the past 24 months have been nothing short of staggering. And to think that, in the beginning, both Shetty and Rankireddy had their own partners and weren’t keen on playing with each other.