India’s men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty made a comeback at the 2025 Singapore Open after a long injury layoff. Since the 2024 Paris Olympics, the duo went through a rough patch that consisted of injuries and personal losses. The duo regarded the phase as one of the “worst” phases of their respective careers, which saw them drop down to No. 27 in the World Rankings. The duo dropped out of Top 10 for the first time in March this year.
National Badminton Coach Pullela Gopichand opened up on the pair’s comeback
“It’s good to see them both perform at a high level again, The way they’ve played, the matches they’ve won, it augurs well for the future.” said Gopichand
As reported by RevSportz and revealed by the National Badminton coach in a conversation, the duo were training at the Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad under the watchful eyes of Tan Kim Her.
“Tan Kim Her has been working with them and I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before they regain their confidence and performance,” Gopichand had said.
At the Singapore Open, the duo made it to the semi-finals after beating the World No. 1 Malaysian pair of Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin in the quarter-finals. They eventually lost out to Aaron Chia and Wooi Yik Soh in the semi-finals after three hard-fought games 21-19, 10-21, 18-21.
Following the game, Sarwik stated that the World No. 27 tag is weighing on the duo’s minds. “We didn’t like that number 27. We heard about that. But it’s because of the break we had, unfortunate things and little injuries here and there after the Olympics. We didn’t play many tournaments. But if you look back, whatever we played, we reached semifinals, which is a good sign,”
The National Badminton coach also remains hopeful about the pair’s rise in rankings despite the massive drop.
“I’m very happy to see Satwik and Chirag comeback and I’m sure they will climb up the rankings very quickly.” concluded Gopichand