Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Chirag Shetty: "We just want to go as far as possible" as they prepare for home World Championships
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, ranked fifth in the world, spoke on August 14, 2026 about their preparations in India for the World Championships and addressed recent injuries and mixed results this season.
The pair described a turbulent campaign: they won a major title after two years but also suffered early exits and were forced to withdraw from some events because of injury. They enter the home World Championships aiming to improve on their two previous World Championship bronze medals and to build momentum ahead of their Asian Games title defence.
Asked about fitness and readiness, Satwiksairaj said, "All good, excited for the tournament. Looking forward for it. We haven’t played any big tournament in India so we are just excited, looking forward to when will it start, when will we be back on court. And the body’s getting ready to go all in again, so far all good." Chirag added, "Body’s been holding up quite good and really looking forward to the Worlds. We had some injury concerns but now we are fit to go and we hope to go all out in three days. We’ve come a couple of days early to get used to the environment."
Reflecting on the last six months, Satwiksairaj listed a sequence of results and interruptions: early exits at the Malaysia Open and India Open, a poor All England showing, a good match in the Swiss Open followed by a shoulder problem that required rehab, a Thomas Cup bronze, a Thailand Open final and the Singapore Open win. He said, "Not a good year so far. Yeah, not good...It’s been a mixed bag. But I wasn’t really satisfied so far because the kind of game we want to play, we are not up to the mark there." He also stressed, "We don’t mind losing, that is okay. But giving your 100 percent and losing after you give everything, that didn’t happen in the first three tournaments."
Chirag described the season as "topsy-turvy" before Thomas Cup and said the team event marked a turning point: "But Thomas Cup is when I think things changed for us. Post that, I think it was quite good. But then we had to pull out of a couple of tournaments. So it’s been a topsy-turvy season. But I think now we are fit and ready and really looking forward to our home World championships." On match practice versus fitness he stated, "I would rather prefer having zero injury issues at the Worlds than have enough match practice and play with 70-80 percent fitness."
On recurring injuries and recovery, Satwiksairaj said the physical toll is real but the mental approach has improved: "Physically yes but not mentally. How you handle yourself is very important, especially in major tournaments, you need to be fit enough to play. We are not that old yet!" He described ongoing work with doctors and changes to rehab. Chirag added, "Definitely. As you grow older, the recovery process slows down a bit. I think you have to respect your body and do everything possible to get back in shape," and recalled how an earlier back issue affected sleep and recovery.
About the Singapore Open win, Satwiksairaj revealed they went into the event not fully fit and had conservative expectations: "I will tell you a secret. Even during the Singapore Open, we weren’t fit enough because the week before, we played the final in Thailand. Our conversation before the tournament with the coach was that a quarterfinal showing was the maximum because of the fitness levels and the body we had, playing back-to-back. We weren’t 100%." Chirag called the title "a huge boost mentally and confidence-wise," noting they beat the Koreans in the semifinals and felt their approach was working.
When asked about targets at the World Championships, both said there was no fixed goal and emphasised taking it match by match: "Nothing on the mind. We haven’t spoke anything about that. We just want to be there till the end, go as far as possible. It’s challenging and we love challenges. Doing it in front of the home crowd would be one of the biggest moments in our lives so far." Satwiksairaj also said, "But before that we have the team event as well and the China Open. Right now it’s only Delhi and World championships."
