Singapore Open: Satwik worked his defence, Chirag bettered his smash

India’s Chirag Shetty (left) and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy at the Singapore Open recently. Pic/Badminton Photo

They have been ranked World No.1 on two previous occasions - on October 10, 2023, and January 23, 2024 - but on each occasion, have been unable to hang on to their Numero Uno status. As tennis great Roger Federer famously declared, "It is easier to become No. 1 than to retain that ranking!"

As if to rub salt into the wounds, India's top badminton men's doubles pair, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty (or ‘SatChi', as they are affectionately called), have failed to ascend to the top rung of the rostrum on four occasions in the past two years, having had to remain content with the silver.

The dynamic Indian duo could not replicate their title winning feats of the French Open Super 750 in 2022 and 2024, and the Indonesian Open Super 1000 in 2023. However, the Singapore Open Super 750 tournament ended that agonising 742-day wait.

On Sunday, SatChi ground out a nerve-jangling 18-21, 21-17, 21-16 victory over the Indonesian twosome of Fajar Alfian and Mohammed Shohibul Fikri, to become the first Indian pair to win gold at the Singapore Open.

What was even more impressive was that they notched up a straight-games 21-19, 21-18 triumph over the reigning World No.1 combination of Kim Won-ho and Seo Seung-jae, who had appeared unbeatable in recent times, and held a 2-0 head-to-head record against the Indians.

A marked downtrend had been observed in SatChi's results after their parting from Denmark's former World No. 2, Mathias Boe, the coach who had shaped the course of their careers until the 2024 Paris Olympics. A persistent injury to Satwik's shoulder substantially reduced the effectiveness of his deadly smash, while Chirag, who is a veritable livewire at the net was relatively ineffective from the back of the court.

In the past few months, however, both have worked on their respective shortcomings. Satwik has tightened up his notoriously weak defence, while Chirag has trained with weights to beef up his smash from the rear of the court. Both are serving better, though Chirag would do well to give up the side-to-side "sway" on his serve, and return to more conventional ways of serving.

The Singapore Open win appears to have removed a psychological barrier from SatChi's path, and re-opened the doorway to the top of the BWF rankings.

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No. of Super 750 titles won by Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty