(This video was first published in February, 2020. It is being republished following Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy's success at the Thomas Cup for India)
A breakthrough season could not have come at a better time for Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy. The men's doubles pair are currently placed 10th in the world badminton rankings and were 7th in November 2019. It was their career-best ranking and came on the back of a year in which they won two titles, finished runners up at the French Open and finished semi-finalists in two other tournaments.
Since finishing in the semi-final of the China Open in early November, they have suffered first round exits in four tournaments on the trot but they remain in the rankings for the Tokyo Olympics as the pair that finishes in the top eight of the rankings by the cut-off date of 28 April qualifies for the marquee event.
It meant that the pair could take time off the tour and play the Premier Badminton League where we caught up with the young stars.
Chirag was playing the league for the Pune 7Aces while Satwik was part of Chennai Superstarz and we got them to answer our ‘15 questions’ on a day they had faced off against each other in the league.
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