India’s Badminton has been struggling with form. They have failed in many tournaments and have had a few podium finishes. Only Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have won titles at the French Open and Thailand Open this season. Continuing India’s inconsistent performance on the World Tour. This summarises the horrible year they’ve had. India needs to buckle down soon to regain form and win championships. The shuttlers need to execute at higher levels.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, India’s best men’s badminton doubles team, will return to competition after a three-and-a-half-month break at this week’s $1.15 million China Masters in Shenzhen. The Hangzhou Asian Games winners haven’t played since losing in the quarterfinals of the Paris Olympics. The Super 750 competition will take place at the Shenzen Arena. The former world NO.1 team took a vacation following their loss at the Olympics.
Their return was further delayed by Rankireddy’s shoulder injury. They missed many top-tier tournaments, and as a result, their world ranking plummeted to seventh place. The pair will also compete without a dedicated coach since Mathias Boe quit following the Olympics. They will face world No.10 Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-Hsuan of Chinese Taipei in the first round of the Super 750 competition at Shenzen Arena.
India’s beloved Badminton duo
Is India’s top duo losing their edge? The Indians have a perfect 3-0 record against the Taiwanese team. Last year, Rankireddy and Shetty were seeded first at the China Masters but fell to Wei Keng-Liang and Chang Wang in the final. The Chinese couple won the silver medal in Paris. In men’s singles, Lakshya Sen will face Olympic bronze medallist and seventh seed Lee Zii Jia.
It is a replay of the bronze playoff in Paris, which the Malaysian won in three games. The Almora resident has a 4-2 record versus Lee. PV Sindhu, Aakarshi Kashyap, Malvika Bansod, and Anupama Upadhyaya represent Indian dreams. Sindhu, a former world champion, will face an old opponent, Thailand’s Busanan Ongbamrungphan, against whom the Indian has an 18-1 record.
