India Open badminton: For Satwik-Chirag, 2022 triumph at home was a turning point; in 2026, they are aiming for a repeat

The past year has been a rollercoaster for Satwik and Chirag. (BAI Photo)

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy recalls the unusual lead-up to the 2022 India Open, which was played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There was confusion regarding Chirag Shetty’s availability, as he tested positive for the coronavirus first but then returned a negative result on arrival in Delhi. In the meantime, Satwik was secretly glad that they might not play at the event because he wanted to spend Sankranti at home.

“When Chirag called to say negative aa gaya hai, I was like, damn, khelna padega abhi,” Satwik said with a chuckle. They eventually went all the way, beating their idols – Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan – in the final. Satwik had described it as ‘a dream match.’

It set the tone for a magnificent 2022, arguably their best year on tour. They starred in India’s historic Thomas Cup triumph, won historic medals at the Commonwealth Games (gold) and World Championships (bronze), bagged their first Super 750 title at French Open and finished the year inside the world’s top 5.

Now, entering this season as world No 3, India’s ace doubles duo are hoping for a similiar boost. “Actually, that tournament helped us,” Satwik said on Monday on the eve of the 2026 edition. “Winning a tournament changes a lot of things, no matter whether it’s a small or big event. Then that year we started playing really well. We are looking for that one win where we get that confidence and play to our A-game.”

“It definitely changed a lot for us,” Chirag added. “Beating Ahsan-Setiawan in the final gave us a huge boost; it just kept the ball rolling. It completely changed the year for us, so that title was definitely very special. I hope we can emulate that.”

(From left to right) Chirag Shetty, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, PV Sindhu, HS Prannoy and Ayush Shetty at the pre-tournament press conference. (BAI Photo)

The past year has been a rollercoaster for the duo. It started well enough with semifinals in Malaysia and India but it was followed by personal setbacks (Satwik’s father passed away) and injuries (Chirag’s back issue at All England was so bad, he wasn’t sure if he’d be back playing at their best level again). Their ranking went down to 27 in May. But they started to turn things around. “I think we’ve set our expectations so high that for us, anything less than a title feels below the mark,” Chirag reflected. “We still managed to finish the year at number 3. When I was injured, if someone had told me we’d end the year ranked third, I would’ve taken it hands down. But once we actually finished at number 3, my first thought was still ‘s**t, we didn’t win a title’. That’s just how an athlete’s mind works. It’s never satisfied.”

Men’s doubles gameplay has become increasingly dependent on serves and returns. Lightning-quick rallies are getting decided by the first three shots, with lengthy exchanges few and far between among the elite pairs. It’s something that the Indians spend a lot of time working on these days with coach Tan Kim Her. “I think it’s an ongoing process. You can never be perfect, but we place a lot of emphasis on service and receiving because if you are good in those first two or three strokes, you end up winning most of the rallies, if not all of them,” Chirag said. They are also keeping a close eye on the variations that the Indonesians, Malaysians, Koreans and the Chinese are coming up with. “Definitely (have our eyes on the top pairs and trying to incorporate in our game), and also working on how to conquer those things. You always look for things where you can become better at.”

Working with ‘Tan coach’ in his second stint – the Malaysian was responsible for uniting the duo a decade back – has been different as well. After the departure of Mathias Boe, who was hands-on and laid out everything on a platter for his wards to simply follow, the return of the Malaysian took a little while to get used to. “We were used to the European style with Mathias. It was very different with Tan coach at the start. With Mathias, we had shorter but higher-intensity sessions; we’d be dead tired after one good hour or 80 minutes of badminton. But with Tan, we are playing almost an hour and 45 minutes or up to two hours after. He wants everything long, long, long.”

Satwik also explained how it’s a two-way street with Tan now, because both of them share their inputs with the coach on what’s working and what’s not. “I go and tell, this is not helping me, we have to change something. Then he comes up with a plan. Same for Chirag too. And we still carry tactics from Mathias as well, what we did well in 2022 and 2023. We are continuing those things and we just started doing a lot more on serves and returns.”

As they look to end their wait for a title, Chirag said there is no mental block in crossing that weekend hurdle. “It is just a matter of time before we find ourselves on that podium again, winning a title. All we can do is to find ways to improve ourselves and work on those shortcomings.”