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India's men's doubles badminton pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty reclaimed the top spot in the BWF rankings on January 23 after delivering an outstanding performance in the past two weeks.
The Asian Games champions secured the world no. 1 ranking for the second time, following back-to-back runner-up finishes in the Malaysia Open Super 1000 and India Open Super 750 badminton tournaments.
Their initial claim to the numero uno status came after winning the historic gold medal at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou last year. Despite entering the India Open as the world no. 2, Satwik and Chirag faced a tense final, ultimately losing to world champions Kang Min Hyuk and Seo Sang Jae on January 21.
Having secured three BWF World Tour titles in 2023, which included triumphs at the Indonesia Open (Super 1000), Korea Open (Super 500), and Swiss Open (Super 300), in addition to their Asian Games gold medal, Chirag and Rankireddy have continued their excellent form into 2024.
Despite not clinching a title in the current campaign, Chirag-Shetty reached the finals in both the Malaysia and India Opens. The Indian pair initially planned to participate in the Indonesia Masters but later withdrew from the competition.
Following their two runner-up finishes, Satwik and Chirag surpassed China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, the bronze medalists at the 2023 world championships, to claim the top spot in the men’s doubles rankings. Notably, Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang had defeated the Indian duo in the Malaysia Open final earlier this month.
This marks the second occasion that the Indian badminton pair has claimed the top position in the men’s doubles badminton rankings. They initially achieved this milestone after the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou last October but were subsequently displaced after two weeks.
Meanwhile, HS Prannoy advanced one place to attain the eighth position in the world rankings, while Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth, and Priyanshu Rajawat maintained their positions at 19th, 25th, and 30th spots, respectively.
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