It was only three weeks back that Satwiksairaj Rankireddy & Chirag Shetty had created history by becoming the first Indian pair ever, to be ranked WR-1 in the BWF rankings. The duo had achieved the feat by winning the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, at the start of October. But the joy of being the WR-1 team in the world could rather be short-lived for Satwik-Chirag.
What went wrong for Satwiksairaj Rankireddy & Chirag Shetty
Playing at the French Open 750, Satwik-Chirag lost in the second round itself. In the first round, they beat the French team of Lucas Corvee and Ronan Labar, but couldn’t get past the former World no. 1 team of Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto. The Indians lost in three games 23-25, 21-19, 19-21. This was their first tournament as the WR-1 pair, where they failed to absorb pressure.
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What it means for Satwiksairaj Rankireddy & Chirag Shetty
Losing in the second round, the defending champions at the French Open, Satwik-Chirag stand to lose a lot of points. So the way BWF rankings work is, a player/player needs to defend points at each tournament they play in. For example, if ‘A’ reaches the final of a tournament in 2022, he/she need to once again, at least reach the final in 2023, to not lose points.
At the French Open 750, 11,000 points were at stake from Satwik-Chirag, and since they lost in the second round, they stand to lose close to 7000 points. This further means, that the other pairs in the world, who are in touching distance of Satwik-Chirag, will get past them, and the Indians will fall. They might just fall to WR-4 or WR-5, when the latest BWF rankings are released on Tuesday, with around 86,200 points, from current levels of 92,411.
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