Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty suffer blowout in Thailand Open finals as tall-person problems persist
Riding confidence would be one way to go about the next two years for Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, but that is not sustainable, given how losses on Tour are bound to drag it down in a jiffy. What was broken at the Olympics – their spirit – can only be mended at the Olympics. But in the meantime, the bruised game can be patched back, so it doesn’t fritter a good week with a terrible finish – a 21-12, 25-23 loss to Leo Rolly Carnando and Daniel Marthin at the Super 500 Thailand Open. Their first final in 8 months after China Masters, was also about nerves, just like that straight sets loss to Seo Seung-jae and Kim Won-ho in September of 2025. For a pair that used to pick titles easily, a mid-career crisis has hit, where some very solvable issues in their games need solving — technically. Though when Satwik says problems are more mental than physical, he is not off the mark. His own confidence crisis is very clearly dating back …
