-Khel Now
World No. 1 men’s doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have achieved a new milestone. The Asian Games 2023 champions have become first Indian doubles pair to complete 100 consecutive weeks in the top 10 of BWF world rankings. They started the streak way back in November 2021 and are currently atop the men’s doubles rankings.
However, this is not the first time the pair have been ranked inside top 10 in the BWF world rankings. Prior to this run, Satwik-Chirag were ranked within the top 10 for 54 straight weeks from January 2020 to October 2021. Their current streak of 101 consecutive weeks has been very significant for the Indian pair as they have achieved many firsts for India in this long run.
Earlier, they became the first Indian doubles pair to win BWF World Tour 1000 title at the Indonesia Open. Alongside this, the pair also won the Asian Championships and in the subsequent months became the Asian Games champions. The only major medal or trophy missing from their cabinet is an Olympics medal.
With the kind of form that they are in currently, Satwik-Chirag can be touted as one of the favourites to finish on the podium at Paris Olympics. Apart from Satwik-Chirag, Indian mixed doubles pair Jwala Gutta and Valiyaveetil Diju were ranked in the top 10 for 26 consecutive weeks. Jwala-Diju remains the most formidable Indian mixed doubles pair.
Meanwhile in the singles category, 2012 Olympic silver medalist Saina Nehwal holds the top spot having been ranked within the top 10 for 372 consecutive weeks. The next best is the two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu who stayed for 293 successive weeks.
Sindhu has featured out of the top-10 this year after a sub-par season. In the men’s singles, former WR-1, Kidambi Srikanth, held onto the top 10 rank for 124 straight weeks followed by HS Prannoy (46 weeks).
Featured Image: Rediff