Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty pull out of Badminton Asia Championships 2024

Satwik-Chirag clinched a historic gold at 2023 Badminton Asia Championships.

Indian badminton stars Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have withdrawn from their men’s doubles title defence at the upcoming Badminton Asia Championships due to a shoulder injury to Rankireddy.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy’s shoulder injury which has troubled him previously appears to have emerged again following the European circuit of the current season’s badminton competitions.

Last April, the current World No.1s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty became the first Asian champions after Dinesh Khanna broke a 58-year drought for Indians. Khanna achieved the rare gold medal in 1965.

This season, the duo of Satwik and Chirag has displayed exceptional performances, securing victory at the French Open Super 750 and earning second place at both the India Open Super 750 and the Malaysia Open Super 1000.

“It is not a new injury, it is something that happens due to overuse of the shoulder and Satwik is already on the road to recovery. They are still training but the intensity is a little less. So, looking at the bigger picture, they decided to withdraw,” a source told PTI.

“They have been consistently playing the finals and in a way, they are lucky that it didn’t crop up during major events. So, it is a good time to address the issue. They are elite athletes and need to choose events wisely, they shouldn’t rush things.”.

Satwik-Chirag remain on top of the world for the 10th consecutive week, surpassing Saina Nehwal’s record of nine consecutive weeks and have performed well for two consecutive years. They were named for the upcoming Thomas Cup team earlier on April 4 by the Badminton Association of India. They’ll be back in full swing to defend the title they won back in 2022.

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“Thomas Cup remains an important event and they will be back for the prestigious tournament as we are the defending champions,” the source added.

For the Badminton Asia Championships 2024, P.V. Sindhu will lead the charge for India along with H.S. Prannoy, Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth and others.

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