India’s star Men’s doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty crashed out of the BWF World Championships in Denmark, as they lost against the Danish pair of Kim Astrup and Anders Rasmussen in straight sets. The Indian pair had a fairly good tournament until this game, winning the previous rounds quite easily.
The first set was a well-fought one, and both pairs showcased excellent reflexes throughout the set. But in the end, the Danish pair kept their cool and sealed the set 21-18. Going into the second set, Satwiksairaj and Chirag already looked under pressure after losing the previous set. They tried to keep up in the game, but the opposition seemed to be a step ahead at all times. Near the end of the set, they had pushed hard, but the Danish pair maintained their composure and sealed the second set in a similar fashion, and thus the journey for India’s premier doubles pair met an end at the World Championships.
As one of the few teams with a winning head-to-head record against the Indian stars, Astrup and Rasmussen won for the sixth time in eight matches against Satwik and Chirag. They had a little advantage in the game because the home crowd was rooting for them.
Due to their incredible performance this year, the Rankireddy-Shetty pair is now ranked second in the world according to the BWF Rankings. The Swiss Open, the Indonesia Open, and the Korea Open are three of the four titles they have won this year, all three of them are BWF titles. Additionally, they took home the gold at the 2023 Asia Badminton Championships. The Indian doubles team has a 30-9 win-loss record in this calendar year.
Now India’s hopes of getting a medal at the World Championships lie solely on the shoulders of HS Prannoy, who is scheduled to square off against World No.1 Victor Axelsen in the quarter-final on Friday.