All posts tagged: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty

Thomas Cup squad reassembles for Asian Games; Sindhu-Unnati for individual; Treesa-Gayatri return | Badminton News

Thomas Cup squad reassembles for Asian Games; Sindhu-Unnati for individual; Treesa-Gayatri return | Badminton News

Published by Webster

A full strength Men’s team squad has been named by the Badminton Association of India for the 20th Asian Games, set to take place in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, from September 19 to October 4. India’s bronze winning Thomas Cup team gets a second shy at a team title, with the same personnel except Tharun Mannepalli slotting in place of Kiran George. India have unfinished business from Hangzhou where they lost 3-2 to China in men’s team final. Lakshya Sen, Ayush Shetty, HS Prannoy and Kidambi Srikanth are the prominent singles names for the team which won silver in 2022. Sen and Ayush will get a chance to pick their first individual medal at the continental Games. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will defend their title, this time with a stronger second doubles in the form of Hariharan Amsakarunan and MR Arjun. Mixed specialist Dhruv Kapila will also try and make the most of his upsurge of 2024. Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand return after Treesa suffered a collision with her XD partner and injured herself a day before …

Satwik-Chirag stub Malaysian upstarts with calm carnage to make Singapore semis

Satwik-Chirag stub Malaysian upstarts with calm carnage to make Singapore semis

Published by Webster

4 min readMay 29, 2026 06:20 PM IST India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty are in the curated attack phase of their career, where they don’t take their big smashing abilities for granted, and use it judiciously. While tamping down on Malaysian upstarts Kang Khai Xing and Aaron Tai, the Indian duo who have been forced to adapt and evolve, found other ways to collect points, and get the job done. As such they scored fewer points (94-95), as compared to the highly touted Malaysians, aged 20 & 21 while winning 19-21, 21-17, 21-13, quite comfortably. The gamestyle is also energy-efficient, though even a mellow Satwik can cause enough damage with his soft kills, as much as a menacing one. Chirag has been on a roll since the Thailand Super 500, and except for that one ridiculous dive he put in as if landing on a foam pit, he ensured he was protecting his back and keeping things as unadventurous as possible. Kang-Tai had handed Satwik-Chirag a shock loss at the All England. Aaron Tai, …

Top 10 spots up for grabs if PV Sindhu, Lakshya Sen win quarters | Badminton News

Top 10 spots up for grabs if PV Sindhu, Lakshya Sen win quarters | Badminton News

Published by Webster

2 min readMay 14, 2026 08:01 PM IST Lakshya Sen has not beaten Thailand’s World No 2 Kunlavut Vitidsarn in three years. Both times at the World Championships in 2023 and the French Open in 2024, his third sets were blowouts, pointing to lack in endurance. This year, he seems to be playing on a full tank, though when he runs into the local favourite on Friday, he will have only the slightest discomfort from his healing elbow – after he injured himself at the Thomas Cup. There was no visible detriment in the way he played, as he defeated Zhu Xuan Chen 21-12, 21-13 rather comfortably. Besides a spot in the semis of Super 500, the World No 11 can re-enter Top Ten with this result. Sen has been the 4th best player in the world this season, as per WTF rankings, but a title would help mightily, even if that demands he beat his batchmate who has lost only once to him in 5 years. As the Indian challenge got whittled down to …

India vs France in Thomas Cup semis on Saturday night

India vs France in Thomas Cup semis on Saturday night

Published by Webster

2 min readMay 2, 2026 07:48 AM IST France defeated Japan 3-0 to make a historic march into the semifinals of the Thomas Cup where they will play India on Saturday night 9.30 pm IST. After India blanked Chinese Taipei 3-0, France proceeded to similarly drub Japan 3-0, on the back of three straight singles wins. Last year’s World Tour Finals champion and World No 4 Christo Popov defeated No 9 Kodai Naraoka, 21-17, 21-17. While Alex Lanier breezes past Yushi Tanaka, 21-15, 21-17. In the third singles, Toma Jr Popov, older brother of Christo, won the battle of Top 20s, with Toma at No 17 and Koki Watanabe at No 20. Watanabe offered some resistance before losing 21-19, 23-21. The French are on a high and had threatened to make it 2/4 European teams in Thomas Cup, alongside Denmark who led Thailand 2-0. China and India have qualified for the semis already. The quirk with playing France is, all their three singles necessarily play first three rubbers, because Toma Jr and Christo are also …

India finish second in group A after narrow loss to China

India finish second in group A after narrow loss to China

Published by Webster

India’s men’s team finished second in Group A after a closely fought 2-3 defeat to defending champions People’s Republic of China at the Thomas & Uber Cup 2026 in Horsens on Wednesday. Both teams had already secured qualification for the quarterfinals with wins over Canada and Australia, but the tie determined the group topper. China edged the contest, winning three of the five matches. Lakshya Sen pushed hard in the opening singles but went down 19-21, 21-8, 12-21 to Li Shi Feng. The men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty came close to turning the tie around, saving five match points before losing a tight decider 24-26 against Liang Wei Kang and Wang Chang. Ayush and Prannoy deliver wins for India Ayush Shetty kept India in contention with a comeback win over Weng Hong Yang, securing a 17-21, 21-13, 21-15 victory. However, the second doubles pair of Hariharan Amsakarunan and MR Arjun fell short against He Ji Ting and Ren Xiang Yu, conceding the decisive point. HS Prannoy signed off with a hard-fought …

Thomas & Uber Cup 2026: India Preview, Schedule, Squads, Groups, Live Streaming – All You Need To Know | Badminton News

Thomas & Uber Cup 2026: India Preview, Schedule, Squads, Groups, Live Streaming – All You Need To Know | Badminton News

Published by Webster

4 min readApr 24, 2026 12:34 PM IST India’s men’s and women’s team will begin their campaigns at the 2026 Thomas and Uber Cup championships on Friday. The prestigious team event is being held in Horsens, Denmark from April 24th to May 3. Indian men face defending champions Canada in Group A, while the women’s team takes on Denmark in the opening round. Both the Indian teams are seeded eighth in the tournament based on their individual players’ world rankings. The Indian men created history by winning the 2022 edition of the Thomas Cup, the women’s team has won the bronze medal in the 2014 and 2016 editions. Here’s India preview, schedule, squads, groups and live streaming info for Thomas & Uber Cup 2026: India Preview – Thomas & Uber Cup 2026 There is danger of lapsing into history too much and looking for signs, no matter how many coincidences from 2022 line up. Lakshya Sen reached the All England finals in 2022 before India won the Thomas Cup; the country’s strong three singles gave India …

Thomas & Uber Cup 2026: India Preview, Schedule, Squads, Groups, Live Streaming – All You Need To Know | Badminton News

Thomas and Uber Cup 2026: Indian men and women clubbed with defending champions China | Badminton News

Published by Webster

2 min readUpdated: Mar 18, 2026 09:32 PM IST India’s men’s and women’s teams have been handed a decent draw in the group stages of next month’s 2026 Thomas and Uber Cup championships. The prestigious team event will be held in Horsens, Denmark from April 24th to May 3. While the Indian men created history by winning the 2022 edition of the Thomas Cup, the women’s team has won the bronze medal in the 2014 and 2016 editions. The team of 2022 — comprising players like Kidambi Srikanth, HS Prannoy, Lakshya Sen, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty — had defeated 14-time Thomas Cup champions Indonesia to claim their title. Both the Indian teams are seeded eighth in the tournament based on their individual players’ world rankings. Giving India company in Group A will be defending champions and top seeds, China. The 2022 Thomas Cup champions India will be favourites to claim one of the two quarterfinals spots from Group A that also comprises Pan Am champions Canada and Oceania champions Australia. The women’s team, however, …

India Open badminton: For Satwik-Chirag, 2022 triumph at home was a turning point; in 2026, they are aiming for a repeat | Badminton News

India Open badminton: For Satwik-Chirag, 2022 triumph at home was a turning point; in 2026, they are aiming for a repeat | Badminton News

Published by Webster

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy recalls the unusual lead-up to the 2022 India Open, which was played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There was confusion regarding Chirag Shetty’s availability, as he tested positive for the coronavirus first but then returned a negative result on arrival in Delhi. In the meantime, Satwik was secretly glad that they might not play at the event because he wanted to spend Sankranti at home. “When Chirag called to say negative aa gaya hai, I was like, damn, khelna padega abhi,” Satwik said with a chuckle. They eventually went all the way, beating their idols – Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan – in the final. Satwik had described it as ‘a dream match.’ It set the tone for a magnificent 2022, arguably their best year on tour. They starred in India’s historic Thomas Cup triumph, won historic medals at the Commonwealth Games (gold) and World Championships (bronze), bagged their first Super 750 title at French Open and finished the year inside the world’s top 5. Now, entering this season as …

Why Indian badminton owes Satwik-Chirag gratitude for keeping the sport relevant | Badminton News

Why Indian badminton owes Satwik-Chirag gratitude for keeping the sport relevant | Badminton News

Published by Parlour News

It wasn’t the best year of their careers for Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty. 2025 may end without a title – the first such for half a dozen years. But Indian badminton owes the unassuming duo immense gratitude for keeping the sport relevant in the country by trying to stay in the realms of excellence with immense hard work. Six semifinals and two finals, besides the strong finish at the World Tour Finals, out of 16 elite tournaments played in a season in which they looked for stability rather than silverware, is far more than what any other Indian shuttler managed. That’s 9 top-4 finishes out of 16 in a not-the-greatest year, when they had fallen out of the World Top 25. India’s singles stars would’ve traded a limb for results like that. That’s why Satwik-Chirag, even in a title-less year, deserve a thank you note. The game won’t ever get wiped out in India, given the light Saina Nehwal ignited 20 years ago. But 2025 came pretty close to recurring blackouts, where the sport …

Chirag Shetty returns to international action playing two tweeners in win | Badminton News

Chirag Shetty returns to international action playing two tweeners in win | Badminton News

Published by Webster

Chirag Shetty has had a tough few months, dealing with injuries and alongwith the bereaved Satwiksairaj Rankireddy who lost his father, the duo are going through perhaps the toughest phase of their careers. But returning to action at the Singapore Open Super 750, Shetty made up for many days spent away from the high of competitive action, as the Indian aces defeated Malaysian Choong Hon Jian and Haikal Muhammad 21-16, 21-13 on their return. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW VIDEO Shetty who had gone through a torrid time recovering from back issues, looked sharp alongside Satwik, and even packed in two moments of magic during the Round 1 opener. Story continues below this ad In a video that has since become viral, Shetty is seeing on the left side during a parallel defense, and in a neat sumo squat, with sharp low returns. He sends a side swat on his right and picks the next one as a tweener, frim inches off the ground with minimal movement of his eyes and stance. Shetty later told the Indian …