Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, the Indian men’s doubles team, made a strong return at the Singapore Open Super 750 badminton competition here on Saturday (May 31, 2025), and they were happy with how they pushed their top-ranked opponents even though they’re not at their physical best.

The world No. 3 pair from Malaysia, Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik, defeated the Asian Games champions 21-19, 10-21, 18-21 in the semifinals.

“We never really thought we’d make it this far, considering all the days we’ve trained and the weeks and months we’ve spent both professionally and personally. Getting back here to play a semifinal was unexpected”, Chirag said after the loss.

“There are a lot of positives, in my opinion. You always want to win the title and go farther, but after everything we’ve been through in the last few months, returning to play in the semifinals is a great beginning. We’ll now travel to Indonesia”.

After the Olympics, Satwik and Chirag had experienced several setbacks that made it difficult for them to compete regularly.

After finishing in the semifinals of the China Open the previous year, they advanced to the final four of the Malaysian and Indian Opens before suffering from personal and health issues once more.

Earlier this year, Satwik had a significant personal tragedy when his father passed away in February from cardiac arrest.

He missed the Sudirman Cup as well because of his illness. Chirag’s campaign in March was cut short after their return when their back issue flared up at the All England Championships.Their rating dropped from world No. 1 to 27 as a result of their time off the court.

“Clearly, that was the strategy (to get back into the rankings)”. I believe that number 27 didn’t sit well with us. We were informed about that. However, it’s because of the break we had, bad things that happened, and minor injuries that happened after the Olympics.

“We didn’t participate in a lot of tournaments, but if you think about it, every time we did, we made it to the semifinals which is a positive signs”, Satwik mentioned.

“We are not yet at our peak, which is a good thing. Still, we can challenge the best couples and defeat some elite players. That boosts our confidence, and I think the best is still to come”.

Chirag had a difficult recovery after aggravating his back issue during the All England Championships.

Satwik appreciated the work his buddy had done.”Chirag deserves a lot of praise. In the last few months, he has experienced a lot. It wasn’t easy last month.I witnessed him working morning, evening, and afternoon. Hats off, then”, Satwik remarked.

I understand that he’s hurting right now too, yet he isn’t sharing that with me.That’s how we support one another, and we really want to perform well in the upcoming tournaments.

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