Chirag-Satwik first Indian pair to reach top in BWF rankings

Indian men's doubles badminton pair Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy have reached the top spot in the latest Badminton World Federation (BWF) world rankings released on 10 October 2023.

• Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy have become the first Indian doubles pair to achieve the top spot in badminton history.
• Chirag-Satwiksairaj are the only Indians after Prakash Padukone, Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth to reach the pinnacle of the BWF world rankings.

Sports achievements of Chirag -Satwiksairaj this year:

• In October 2023 itself, this Indian pair had created history by winning the gold medal in Asian Games Badminton and with this, this Indian pair has now moved up two places in the BWF rankings.
• Chirag-Satwiksairaj achieved this feat in 2023 by defeating Kim Wonho-Choi Solgyu of Korea Republic in straight sets in the final.
• Earlier this year, Chirag Shetty-Satwiksairaj Rankireddy won their first title together at the 2023 Swiss Open.
• Chirag-Satwiksairaj also won the gold medal at the Asian Championships in Dubai by defeating Ren Jiangyu and Tan Qiang of the People's Republic of China in the final.
• In June, Chirag Shetty-Satwiksairaj Rankireddy won their first BWF World Super 1000 title by winning the 2023 Indonesia Open and became the first men's doubles pair from India to win the event.
• After this, Chirag-Satwiksairaj also won the 2023 Korean Open and 2023 Asian Games and topped the rankings.

What are the other players' positions in the BWF rankings?

• In the men's singles category, HS Prannoy and Lakshya Sen have dropped one place each to be at 8th and 15th respectively in the current rankings.
• Kidambi Srikanth has moved up one place to 20th place in the rankings.
• PV Sindhu has moved up two places to 13th position in women's singles. PV Sindhu's rank has increased despite missing out on a medal in the Asian Games 2023.
• Former world number one and Olympic medalist Saina Nehwal has maintained her 54th ranking. Saina Nehwal was the bronze medalist of the London 2012 Olympics.
• In women's doubles, India's top-ranked pair Gayatri Gopichand and Trisha Jolly have moved up one place to 16th.
• Mixed doubles pair Rohan Kapoor-Sikki Reddy have maintained their 38th rank.

Badminton World Federation (BWF):

• Established: 1934
• Member countries: 176
• Chairman: Poul-Erik Høyer Larsen (Denmark)
• Badminton Association of India (BAI) President Himanta Biswa Sarma has been elected to the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Council for a four-year term till 2025.
• The BWF was initially formed as the International Badminton Federation (IBF) with nine member countries (Canada, Denmark, England, France, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Scotland and Wales).
• At the extraordinary general meeting in Madrid on 24 September 2006, the organization was renamed the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
• When the BWF was founded (as the IBF), its head office was located in Cheltenham, UK.
• The head office was moved to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 1 October 2005.