India's Sat-Chi get the drift right at the Singapore Open!

India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (left) and Chirag Shetty during their win in the final of the Singapore Open on Sunday. Pic/Badminton Photo

Shuttlers Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy had to experience plenty of failures at the Singapore Open before becoming India's first men's doubles pair to clinch the title on Sunday, and Shetty believes the seed for this success was sown when they reached their maiden semi-final in the island nation in 2025, after a series of early exits.

The World No. 4 pair, who rallied from behind to beat Indonesia's Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri 18-21, 21-17, 21-16 in the summit clash and register their first title in two years, had bowed out of the tournament after just one win in 2017 and 2018, followed by opening-round exits in 2023 and 2024.

When asked about what changed their poor run at the Super 750 tournament over the years, Shetty, 28, said they learned to navigate the drifty conditions over time. Drift is the movement of the shuttlecock caused by the air conditioning at the venue.

"Singapore has always been a place where there is a lot of drift and the ones who control the drift will eventually go on to win. Probably, in our previous attempts we haven't been able to handle the drift as well. Last year, it changed for us. After three or four [two] first-round exits, to 2025, where we broke that barrier of losing the first round and eventually playing the semi-final, it changed things for us and we started believing that we can actually play well in these conditions as long as we keep our calm, because we've played well and won tournaments in drifty conditions," Shetty told mid-day during a virtual interaction on Monday.

Meanwhile, Rankireddy, 25, said their focus this year was on never giving up and always giving a tough fight, especially in the final. "I felt we were playing the right game plan [in the final]. There was a little bit more confidence [even after losing the first game] like it's fine if we lose, but we'll give everything and we'll lose. So, the attitude was calm and if we are down in the second game, we wanted to fight back, because we have fought since the first match itself. We were down during most of the matches. We just had that confidence that we can pull things back even when we are down," Rankireddy said.

Nine
No. of World Tour titles for Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty

Two
No. of years since Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty won a title - Thailand Open in 2024