Leading Indian shuttlers Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty withdrew from their men’s doubles title defence at the Badminton Asia Championships on Thursday due to Rankireddy’s shoulder injury. The injury casts a doubt on the pair’s participation in Paris Olympics 2024, although they have quite a few months to put the injury worries past them.
In April of last year, Satwik and Chirag, who are presently ranked first in the world, made history by ending a 58-year-long drought and becoming the first Indian champions at the Asia Badminton Championships in Dubai, following Dinesh Khanna. In 1965, Dinesh Khanna accomplished the extraordinary feat of winning gold.
Satwik and Chirag, who have been playing fantastically this season—winning the French Open Super 750 and placing second in two finals—opted not to participate in the competition on Thursday.
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“It is not a new injury, it is something which happens due to overuse of shoulder and Satwik is already on road to recovery. They are still training but the intensity is little less. So, looking at the bigger picture, they decided to withdraw,” a source in the know of things told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
“They have been consistently playing the finals and in a way they are lucky that it didn’t crop up during major events. So it is a good time to address the issue. They are elite athletes and need to choose events wisely, they shouldn’t rush things,” the source added.
