After their recent gold-medal winning performance at the Badminton Asia Championship 2023, India's ace shuttles Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have retained their career-high rank, the world no. 5 spot, in men's doubles category in this week's BWF World Rankings. The star Indian men's doubles pair of Rankireddy and Shetty made history by clinching the Badminton Asia Championships gold medal. It is India's second medal at the tournament since 1965 and their first in the men's doubles category. They defeated Ong Yew Sin-Teo Eo Yi, the Malaysian duo, 16-21, 21-17, 21-19. The India duo lost the first game. But they made a comeback worth remembering in the next two games to clinch the title.
They faced Tokyo Olympics champions Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin from Chinese Taipei in the semifinal match. The Indians won a competitive first game by 21-18. They won the match after their opponents retired midway through the match due to injury to Wang Chi-lin. The Indians took the match in a walkover.
"I am over the moon after winning the Badminton Asia Championships title. I and Satwik worked really hard for this medal and I am happy that we have finally won the title. Also, I would like to thank everyone back home for supporting me," Shetty said after winning the gold.
Rankireddy said they will continue to work hard to bring more laurels to the country.
"I am grateful for all the support we have got during the Badminton Asia Championships. It's a great feeling to win this tournament for the first time and I am sure we will win more such titles in the future. We will continue to work hard to bring laurels to the country," Rankireddy said.
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