Satwik-Chirag pair reaches career-best second position in rankings

India's top men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty on Tuesday climbed to a career-best second spot in the latest BWF rankings after winning the Korea Open 2023. Satwik-Chirag replaced the Chinese pair of Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang in this ranking list. The Indian pair had recently defeated Keng and Chang in the semi-finals of the Korea Open.

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The Asian champion pair, Satwik-Chirag, who won the Korea Open (Super 500), Swiss Open (Super 300), and Indonesia Open (Super 1000) titles in the current season, now have 87,211 points. Satwik-Chirag had started the season as the fifth-ranked doubles pair in the world, and have since won four major titles. The two have not lost a single final this season. Satwik-Chirag is on a 10-match unbeaten streak on the BWF World Tour.

Satwik-Chirag, playing their fourth final of the year (Korea Open), registered a 17-21 21-13 21-14 win over the top-seeded Indonesian pair of Fajar Alfian and Muhamad Rian Ardianto. It was the 10th consecutive win on the BWF World Tour for the Commonwealth Games winning Indian pair. Satwik-Chirag could soon attain the numero uno position on the BWF world rankings, replacing Alfian and Ardianto. If they win the Japan Open and the Indonesian pair, the current holder of the position, loses before the final.

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Meanwhile, two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu, who made an early exit from the Korea Open, managed to retain her 17th position in the women's singles rankings. London Olympics bronze medalist Saina Nehwal, however, slipped a place to be at 37th position. While HS Prannoy remains India's top-ranked singles shuttler. He is ranked 10th in the men's singles rankings.

On the other hand, Canada Open winner Lakshya Sen did not participate in the Korea Open, due to which he has lost one place in the rankings. He has now moved up to No.13, while out-of-form Kidambi Srikanth remains at No.20.