Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (born 13 August 2000) is an Indian

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players pe ...

player. He and his partner,

Chirag Shetty Chirag Chandrashekhar Shetty (born 4 July 1997) is an Indian badminton player. He and his partner, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, are the first men's doubles pair from India to be ranked inside the top 10 of the BWF World Ranking, with a career-high ...

, are the first men's doubles pair from India to be ranked inside the top 10 of the

BWF World Ranking The BWF World Ranking is the official ranking of the Badminton World Federation for badminton players who participate in tournaments sanctioned by Badminton World Federation. It is used to determine the qualification for the World Championships a ...

, with a career-high ranking of 5.

Early life and background

Rankireddy hails from a town named

Amalapuram Amalapuram is a town in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the district headquarters and the largest town of Konaseema district. It is the mandal and divisional headquarters of Amalapuram mandal and Amalapuram revenue division respectivel ...

in the state of

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

and started playing badminton after following in the footsteps of his father, who was a state-level player in the past, as well his elder brother. In 2014, he joined the Pullela Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad and decided to become a doubles specialist.

Career

2018

In 2018, Rankireddy and

played a crucial role in earning India a historic gold medal in the Mixed Team event at the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that were held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

, where they also won the men's doubles silver. They won their first BWF World Tour title in Hyderabad Open after beating the Indonesian pair of

Akbar Bintang Cahyono Akbar Bintang Cahyono (born 12 April 1996) is an Indonesian badminton player affiliated with PB Djarum, Djarum badminton club. He started his career in badminton when he was in the elementary school in 2005, and later joined the Ganesha badminton ...

and

Muhammad Reza Pahlevi Isfahani Muhammad Reza Pahlevi Isfahani (born 6 August 1998) is an Indonesian badminton player affiliated with Jaya Raya Jakarta club. He was born in Blitar and in 2015, he won the boys' doubles title at the Indonesia Junior International Challenge tourna ...

in the final.

2019

In 2019, Rankireddy and

became the first Indian doubles pair to win a

BWF Superseries The BWF Super Series was a series of Grade 2 badminton tournaments, sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF). It was launched on December 14, 2006 and implemented in 2007. Since 2011, the Super Series includes two levels of tournament, ...

BWF World Tour The BWF World Tour is a Grade 2 badminton tournament series, sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF). It is a competition open to the top world ranked players in singles (men's and women's) and doubles (men's, women's and mixed). The compet ...

(Super 500+) title, when they won the Thailand Open title, beating the Chinese pair of

Li Junhui Li Junhui (, born 10 May 1995) is a Chinese former badminton player. He was the gold medalist at the 2018 World Championships in the men's doubles event partnered with Liu Yuchen, two times won the gold medal at the Asian Championships in 2017 ...

and

Liu Yuchen Liu Yuchen (, born 25 July 1995) is a Chinese badminton player. He was the men's doubles World Champion in 2018, two-time Asian Champion in 2017 and 2018, and also a silver medalist at the 2020 Summer Olympics partnered with Li Junhui. Liu was p ...

in the final. They followed it up with a runner-up finish at the

2019 French Open The 2019 French Open was a Grand Slam (tennis), major tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was held at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from 26 May to 9 June, comprising singles, doubles and mixed doubles play. Junior and ...

, where they lost in the final to the Indonesian pair of

Marcus Fernaldi Gideon Marcus Fernaldi Gideon (born 9 March 1991) is an Indonesian badminton player who was formerly ranked world No. 1 in the men's doubles by the Badminton World Federation. He plays for PB Jaya Raya, and has joined the club since June 2018. He won t ...

and

Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (born 2 August 1995) is an Indonesian badminton player who was formerly ranked world number 1 in the men's doubles by the Badminton World Federation. He plays for PB Djarum, and has been a member of the club since 2007 ...

2021

In 2021, Rankireddy and

lost to the Indonesian duo of

Mohammad Ahsan Mohammad Ahsan (born 7 September 1987) is an Indonesian badminton player affiliated with Djarum club who specializes in the men's doubles. He is three-time World Champion, three-time season ending finals champion, and Asian Games gold medalist ...

and

Hendra Setiawan Hendra Setiawan (born 25 August 1984) is an Indonesian badminton player. He is an Olympic Games gold medalist, four-time World Champion, two-time Asian Games gold medalist, and two-time All England champion. With these achievements, Setiawan has ...

in the second round to crash out of the 2020 Yonex Thailand Open. In July, he and Shetty competed at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

, but were eliminated in the group stage, following a loss to

and

. However, they were the only pair in the entire tournament who defeated eventual gold medalists

Lee Yang Lee Yang (; born 12 August 1995) is a Taiwanese badminton player and 2020 Olympics men's doubles champion. Career Lee played in the men's doubles with Lee Jhe-huei. They were champions in 2016 at the Vietnam Open Grand Prix. In 2015, toge ...

and

Wang Chi-Lin Wang Chi-lin (; born 18 January 1995) is a Taiwanese badminton player who specializes in doubles. He is the 2020 Olympics men's doubles champion. Career In 2021, at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, he and his partner Lee Yang Lee Yang (; born 12 ...

, whom they had narrowly beaten in their first group stage encounter. In December, Rankireddy and Shetty qualified for the

BWF World Tour Finals The BWF World Tour Finals, officially HSBC BWF World Tour Finals, which succeeds BWF Super Series Finals, is an annual badminton tournament which is held every December of a year where the players with the most points from that calendar year's event ...

for the first time in their career, but withdrew from the tournament after a loss in their first group stage match to the Danish pair of

Kim Astrup Kim Astrup Sørensen (born 6 March 1992) is a Danish badminton player. As junior player, he won the bronze medal at the 2010 World Junior Championships in the boys' doubles. He later won a gold in the mixed doubles and bronze medals in the boys' ...

and

Anders Skaarup Rasmussen Anders Skaarup Rasmussen (born 15 February 1989) is a Danish badminton player. He joined the Denmark winning team at the 2016 Thomas Cup in Kunshan, China, where he and his teammates beating Indonesia 3–2 in the final. Rasmussen won the men's ...

2022

In 2022, Rankireddy and

started the year by winning

India Open The India Open is an annual badminton event which has been held in India since 2008 and is a BWF World Tour Super 750 international badminton tournament. Its first three editions were designated as Grand Prix Gold events. In 2011, it was upgr ...

. They were also part of India's

Thomas Cup The Thomas Cup, sometimes called the World Men's Team Championships, is an international badminton competition among teams representing member nations of the Badminton World Federation (BWF), the sport's global governing body. The championships h ...

winning team. In the final, having lost the first game to the Indonesian duo of

and

, they displayed immense perseverance and tenacity to win the second game and close out the third game at 21–19, giving India a 2–0 lead over Indonesia. This was pivotal in helping India bag its maiden Thomas Cup trophy. Rankireddy and Shetty then won the men's doubles gold at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, beating the home pair of

Ben Lane Ben Lane (born 13 July 1997) is an English badminton player. He won the men's doubles silver medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and a bronze medal in the European Championships. Personal life Ben's mother Suzanne Louis-Lane, represented E ...

and

Sean Vendy Sean Vendy (born 18 May 1996) is a badminton player from England. He started playing badminton at aged 5 in Orkney, then moved to England at 7. He became part of the England national badminton team in May 2015. In 2022, he partnered with Ben Lan ...

in the final. At the

BWF World Championships The BWF World Championships, formerly known as IBF World Championships, and also known as the World Badminton Championships, is a badminton tournament sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF). The tournament is one of the most prestigious i ...

, Rankireddy and Shetty won a bronze medal, India's first-ever men's doubles medal at the tournament. They beat defending champions

Takuro Hoki is a Japanese badminton player affiliated with Tonami team. He was the men's doubles silver medalist at the 2019 World Championships and the men's doubles gold medalist at the 2021 World Championships, being first ever Japanese men's doubles ...

and

Yugo Kobayashi is a Japanese badminton player affiliated with Tonami team. He was the men's doubles silver medalist at the 2019 World Championships and the men's doubles gold medalist at the 2021 World Championships, being first ever Japanese Japanese ma ...

in the quarterfinals, but lost in the semi-finals to eventual champions

Aaron Chia Aaron Chia Teng Fong (Chinese: 谢定峰, born 24 February 1997) is a Malaysian badminton player. He joined the national team since 2015. He represented Malaysia in the 2018 Thomas Cup. Chia and his partner Soh Wooi Yik were the All England O ...

and

Soh Wooi Yik Soh Wooi Yik (, born 17 February 1998) is a Malaysian badminton player. He was part of the Malaysian 2015 and 2016 BWF World Junior Championships team, and has helped Malaysia clinch a silver medal in mixed team after being defeated by China in ...

. They then won their first ever BWF World Super 750 title in the

French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...

by beating Chinese Taipei pair

Lu Ching-yao Lu Ching-yao (; born 7 June 1993) is a Taiwanese badminton player. He was the silver medalist at the 2011 Asian Junior Championships, and 2015 Summer Universiade. He won his first senior international title at the 2014 Singapore International ...

and

Yang Po-han Yang Po-han (; born 13 March 1994) is a Taiwanese badminton player. In 2013, he won the men's doubles title at the Vietnam International tournament partnered with Liao Min-chun when he was 18-year-old. Achievements BWF World Tour (1 title, ...

in the finals.

Honours

* Bestowed with

Arjuna Award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjuna, one ...

for badminton on August 2020

Achievements

BWF World Championships

''Men's doubles''

Commonwealth Games

''Men's doubles''

BWF World Tour (4 titles, 2 runners-up)

The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018, is a series of elite badminton tournaments sanctioned by the

Badminton World Federation The Badminton World Federation (BWF) is the international governing body for the sport of badminton recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). It was founded in 1934 as the International Badminton Federation (IBF) with nine member ...

(BWF). The BWF World Tour is divided into levels of World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300, and the BWF Tour Super 100. ''Men's doubles''

BWF International Challenge/Series (10 titles)

''Men's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles'' :

BWF International Challenge The BWF International Challenge is a grade 3 and level 1 tournament part of Continental Circuit of BWF tournaments along with International Series (level 2) and Future Series (level 3), sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF) since 2007. ...

tournament :

BWF International Series The BWF International Series is a grade 3 and level 2 tournament part of Continental Circuit of BWF tournaments along with International Challenge (level 1) and Future Series (level 3), sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF) since 2007. ...

tournament :

BWF Future Series The BWF Future Series is a grade 3 and level 3 tournaments part of Continental Circuit of BWF tournaments along with International Challenge (level 1) and International Series (level 2), sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF) since 2007. ...

tournament

BWF Junior International (1 title, 1 runner-up)

''Boys' doubles'' : BWF Junior International Grand Prix tournament : BWF Junior International Challenge tournament : BWF Junior International Series tournament : BWF Junior Future Series tournament

Record against selected opponents

Men's doubles results with

against Year-end Finals finalists, World Championships semifinalists, and Olympic quarterfinalists. Accurate as of 13 November 2022.

Awards and recognition

National

: 2020

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rankireddy, Satwiksairaj 2000 births Living people Racket sportspeople from Andhra Pradesh Indian male badminton players Badminton players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic badminton players of India Badminton players at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Badminton players at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for India Commonwealth Games silver medallists for India Commonwealth Games medallists in badminton Badminton players at the 2018 Asian Games Asian Games competitors for India Recipients of the Arjuna Award