Men’s doubles action at the Olympics will start on July 27, with the group stage ending on July 30, the quarterfinals on August 1, the semifinals on August 2, and the final on August 4.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have been propped up as one of the favorites to win a gold medal at the Pairs 2024 Olympics. One can even say that, after Neeraj Chopra, the No. 3 ranked men’s badminton doubles duo are the biggest medal contenders from India.
In 2024 alone, they’ve made four finals and won two titles (French and Thailand Open). Together, they have won gold at the Thomas Cup 2022, the Commonwealth Games 2022, and the Asian Games 2023. Satwik-Chirag have also won 1 Super 1000, 2 Super 750, and 4 Super 500 tournaments since they started partnering up in 2018.
Cost of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy & Chirag Shetty’s Paris Olympics training
It wasn’t until 2022 that they started tasting success and became the first Indian men’s badminton team to reach the No. 1 ranking in October 2023. All of these accomplishments have occurred in the Paris 2024 Olympics cycle, and a major part of their success has been the backing they have received from the Sports Authority of India’s (SAI) Mission Olympic Cell.
Badminton was allocated around Rs 72 crore for the Paris Games by the SAI. According to the Indian Express, they received Rs 5.62 crore from the total sum to prepare for the Paris Games. The duo’s training base was Pulllela Gopichand Badminton Academy, Hyderabad, but Satwik-Chirag couldn’t stay there much as they traveled worldwide for tournaments throughout this Olympic cycle.
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Can Satwik-Chirag win their first Olympic medal?
As one of the world’s best doubles players, the chances of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty winning a medal are high. Their record speaks for itself, but as the third-ranked duo, they have to battle against the two pairs ranked ahead of them. Denward’s Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen have a 6-2 record against them, but the Indians lead them 1-0 in 2024. Similarly, China’s Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang have a 5-1 record against Satwik-Chirag. However, the Indian duo doesn’t have a positive record against the World No. 1’s in 2024 (0-1).
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