India's Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty gain momentum from their China Masters win as they prepare to defend their Asian Games title

Updated on: Sep 7, 2026, 22:30:21 IST

Prefer HTon Google

Share via
Copy link

The China Masters triumph has given India’s star doubles duo Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty a surge of momentum heading into the Asian Games in Japan, which starts on September 19.

Capturing their second title of the season after winning the Singapore Open in May, they weathered a gruelling week in Shenzhen, coming through four three-game thrillers across five matches to prove their physical and tactical resilience right before they begin their Asian Games title defence.

“It definitely gives us a huge confidence boost going into the Asian Games, especially after having a tough few months being away from the court. It definitely gives us a boost that the thing that we are doing is actually working. We’ve got some really good match practice as well,” Chirag said in a media call facilitated by the Badminton Association of India (BAI) on Monday.

The performance marked a turnaround after their frustrating outing at the New Delhi World Championships where a lack of court time proved costly as they lost in the quarter-finals. In Shenzhen, adapting physically was the key as their bodies “settled down and got better”.

“At the Worlds, we didn’t really get a lot of court time whereas we played five matches here. Barring the first round, we played four three-game matches. And yet the body feels a lot better than what it was at the World Championships,” said Chirag.

Tactically, the duo demonstrated refinement and discipline, learning to grind it out through long rallies rather than rely purely on force. Asked about their tactical flexibility when their aggressive game hit a wall, Satwik offered a characteristic response: “It’s always Plan A for us. There’s no Plan B. But Chirag makes my job much easier. He creates so many chances for me to finish.”

Chirag elaborated: “One of the major things we incorporated from the World Championships is to be patient while we are attacking and to trust our defence. We weren’t in a hurry to finish it when we got those lifts and were quite sure of what strokes to play,” said Chirag.

Satwik said that even without peak power, their basic game held firm. “Even without our A weapons, we are playing at a high level. Even though I wasn’t able to smash 100%, still we are troubling top players,” he added.

Constant technical evolution remains central to their success. Chirag highlighted how Satwik surprised opponents who tried to target his serve, which has traditionally been his Achilles heel. “Satwik was able to keep it low, which took them by surprise. When you’re able to do that, you keep your opponents guessing because they don’t really know what is going to hit them,” said Chirag.

Burden of expectations

Next up is the Asian Games where, apart from defending the title, they also go in with the reputation as the only Indians to have won a badminton gold in the continental games. The pair, which came up trumps in Hangzhou in 2023, downplayed any burden of expectation.

“A lot of people will say that we are the pair to beat. I wouldn’t say that. There are plenty of other good pairs as well. We just want to go out there and have as much fun as we normally do. When we are able to keep the results aside and take one match at a time, we do really well,” said Chirag.

See Less