BWF World C'ships: Satwik-Chirag knock out arch nemesis in search of Parisian redemption

August 2024, La Chapelle Arena, Paris: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty pocket the opening game 21-13. The Indians seem to be in control, but Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik bounce back to win the next two 21-14, 21-16. India’s biggest medal hopes in badminton crash out in the quarter-finals of the 2024 Paris Olympics. The biggest heartbreak of their career yet.

August 2025, La Chapelle Arena, Paris: Rankireddy and Shetty have been on and off the circuit with injuries. They have not won any title in a year and have lost to Chia-Soh twice more since the Olympic heartbreak. The pressure to deliver is at an all-time high. Rankireddy-Shetty delivered with a straight games 21-12, 21-19 win at the 2025 BWF World Championships quarter-finals.

Redemption for the Paris Olympics exit? Not quite. Rather, this was revenge, served cold.

Chia and Soh have long been the biggest nemesis for the Indian pair. The Malaysians had beaten Rankireddy-Shetty in the final of the 2022 Commonwealth Games team event. India settled for a silver.

They had also knocked the Indians out in the semi-finals of the 2022 World Badminton Championships, in what was termed as a “revenge match” for the CWG loss by a young Satwik.

The 2024 Paris Olympics quarter-finals loss only added to the weight on Rankireddy and Shetty’s shoulders. They have beaten Chia-Soh in the past, but never at such a big stage.

In their previous meetings, the Indians were often guilty of being sucked into the flat and fast play the Malaysians revel in, with Rankireddy and Shetty’s towering stature landing them in awkward positions.

On Friday, however, to their credit, they were better prepared. They knew there was no escape from Chia-Soh’s comfort zone and instead decided to take it on.

A 59-shot rally early in the first game pushed Chia-Soh to the defensive before Shetty powered home a winner from the mid-court to lead 3-2. The shot was an indication of what was to come.

Rankireddy and Shetty grew in confidence from that point onwards, switching between defence and attack with relative ease as they won the first game 21-12 within no time.

"It was a rematch of sorts after the Olympics. It was the same court, same arena a year back. We finally got some redemption," said Shetty after the win.

As Rankireddy and Shetty led 11-7 at the second mid-game interval, the writing seemed to be on the wall.

There was a mini fightback from the Malaysian pair as they levelled up at 19-19, invoking flashbacks from the Olympics where the Indians went down after winning the opening game.

But it wasn’t to be a year later as Rankireddy and Shetty, egged on by Sumeeth Reddy’s constant encouragement from the coaching chair, held their nerves to close off the match 21-12, 21-19 in just 43 minutes.

"The second game, when we were leading, I was thinking for sure we won't win this easily; they'll comeback for sure," Rankireddy said. "I was telling myself, don't hurry for the point."

One of the bigger changes the Indians have made over the years was also paying dividends as Rankireddy – quite clearly the better backcourt player of the two – seamlessly took over the touch play duties at the net.

Shetty’s powerful smashes from the back were equally potent, often rendering the usually watertight defence from Chia-Soh obsolete. 

Fittingly, it was Rankireddy's interception at the net, followed by a Shetty smash, which propelled the version 2.0 of the Indians to a second career semi-finals at the BWF World Championships.

It also prolonged India’s medal-winning streak at the global competition started in 2011.

With the win over Chia-Soh, Rankireddy and Shetty got what they desperately wanted but they know that the Parisian redemption is still two matches away.

Up next: Their second Chinese challenge against Chen Bo Yang and Liu Yi.