Satwik-Chirag Conquers Number 1 Spot In BWF Men’s Doubles Ranking

Aaron Chia Teng Fong:  India’s top men’s doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty jumped up two spots to achieve their best-ever career-high rank of World No. 1 in the latest BWF World Rankings on Tuesday.

The Indian duo sealed the top spot in the rankings after securing gold in the Men’s Doubles in the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou.

They are the first Indian duo and fourth national athletes after legendary Prakash Padukone, Saina Nehwal, and Kidambi Srikanth to achieve this feat.

Satwik-Chirag beat South Korea’s Choi Solgyu and Kim Wonho in straight games, 21-18, 21-16 to win India’s first-ever badminton gold in the Asian Games.

Earlier, the Indian pair defeated Malaysia's Aaron Chia Teng Fong and Soh Wooi Yik in straight games in the semifinal.

This was India's best-ever result in Asian Games badminton as the men's team won the silver medal and HS Prannoy won the bronze, India's first medal in men's singles since Syed Modi in 1982.

From 1962 to 2018, India won only one silver and nine bronze medals in badminton at the Asian Games. In Hangzhou, they added gold, silver, and bronze medals each to the tally, making it the most successful Asian Games ever for India.

Satwik and Chirag have now aggregated 92,411 points from 18 tournaments this year, 2,000 points ahead of second-placed Fajar Alfian and Mohammad Rian Ardianto.