— Tirthesh Jain
From playing for India at the Thomas Cup 2016 aged just 16 and 18 to actually being a part of the winning Thomas Cup squad in 2022 Satwik and Chirags journey is no less than a fairytale.
But their journey wasn’t as simple as it looks ,It is a popular belief that to be a good doubles pair you need to have a good chemistry not just on the court but off the court as well.
When former Coach Kim Tan Her paied up Satwik and Chirag it took them some time to adjust just like anyother new pair but despite them being almost opposites off court their bond has only grown stronger since.They are also often referred to as Ice and Fire with Chirag being the aggressor and Satwik calming him down.
And now by the end of the year they have reached the ranking of WR5 in the BWF Rankings and are currently the highest ranked Indians
If you have watched them play you would almost feel like watching some sort of magic with Chirag being excellent at the front court and setting up kills for Satwik which he does ridiculously well with his powerful smash and by the end of the rally it it just leaves you amazed.
Some of the important moments in their career would be –
Thailand Open 2019
Satwik/Chirag won their first S500 world tournament in the form of Thailand Open 2019.
They were in an amazing form all the way winning 4 out of their 5 matches in the form of deciders. It was at that moment that they went from being regarded as challengers to being the actual dark horses in the tournament.
THOMAS CUP 2022
Thomas Cup Victory is one of the most significant achievements in the context of Indian Badminton. In a Team Event like Thomas Cup you need atleast two great singles and one very strong doubles and they need to be in good form at the right time.
In Indias Case we have always had a good singles department but with the form Satwik and Chirag were in this year , they had the ability to beat the best and they did it in style.
The most crucial and nerve wrecking match was the Finals where they made a comeback win won against the scratch pair of Ahsan/Suklamuljo who are two of the most skillful doubles players ,and the win being crucial because Suklamuljo along with Marcus has never lost against Satwik and Chirag.
The crucial win helped sway the momentum Indias way and with Srikanth winning the final point history was then created.
HISTORIC WCH BRONZE
Amongst the many firsts that they achieved this year they also became the first Indian Mens Doubles pair to ever medal at the World Championships.
And winning Bronze at the world championships was truly one of the most important indvidual highlight this year.
FRENCH OPEN CHAMPIONS
French Open has always been one of the favourite tournaments for Satwik and Chirag. They have always performed well here with 1 Title, 1Runner Up,1 SF,2 QF.
This Title made things special for them as its their first S750 tournament and winning it with the amazing crowd support from the French Fans made it memeorable.
Apart from Satwik and Chirag the other Doubles pairs to look forward to are –
Dhruv Kapila and M R Arjun
While Satwik and Chirag won a bronze medal at the WCH Dhruv and Arjun were the first Indian MD pair to reach the QFs of the WCH with their amazing performance against the Danish Pair.
Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Pullela
At just 19 years of age the young WD pair of Treesa and Gayatri have broken into the Top 20 and are Currently ranked WR17 , but the highlight for their 2022 was when they became the first WD pair to reach the SFs of the prestigious All England tournament , on the way winning against the second seeds Lee/Shin of South Korea.
Ishaan Bhatnagar and Tanisha Crasto
Currently ranked at WR 19 Ishaan and Tanisha are Indias highest ranked XD pair their first win against a top 20 pair came at the Denmark Open 2022 when they won against Rinov and Pitha from Indonesia.