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India’s men’s doubles star shuttler Chirag Shetty opened up on his future plans and revealed that while they are not participating in any international tournament, they will soon return to the circuit. Shetty revealed that his partner, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy is currently recovering from an injury, and they will soon return to competitions after not participating in any tournament since their medal-less campaign at the Paris Olympics 2024.
Satwik and Chirag, famously called the Sat-Chi, had a disappointing quarter finals exit at the Paris Olympics 2024. They were India’s one of the top medal contenders and despite starting the knockout stage with a first-hand dominance, their hopes were eventually crushed. The duo bowed out of the competition with a 21-13, 14-21, 16-21 loss in the quarterfinal. Speaking upon the exit, Chirag said that the duo is quite disappointed that they couldn’t come back with a medal.
I want to win every medal the sport has to offer before I retire: Chirag Shetty
The 27-year-old shuttler opened up on his future plans while also saying that before he and Satwik made their marks, single players received more attention in India. The reigning Asian Games men’s gold medal winner told ANI, “Earlier, people used to look up to the singles players and not to doubles. There was step-motherly treatment to the doubles players and they did not get enough support initially. But slowly and steadily, things have changed.”
Speaking about his future plans, Shetty said, “I want to win every medal the sport has to offer before I retire.” He also spoke about their equation with former coach Mathias Boe, who announced retirement after the duo’s Olympics exit. Shetty said, "When we started working with him, we were ranked eighth or ninth in the world. Journey from there to number one spot, winning Asian Games gold, Thomas Cup, was a very fruitful journey. Sad we could not continue our partnership, but things have to end at some point.”
