The Indian men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty added another feather to their cap by winning the French Open title on Sunday, March 10. The duo claimed the BWF World Tour Super 750 trophy by defeating Chinese Taipei’s Lee Jhe-Huei and Yang Po-Hsuan in straights 21-11, 21-17 in the final.
Rankireddy and Shetty have won their second consecutive tournament title, following their victory last year. They started as top seeds and secured a significant win, strengthening their position in the run-up to the 2024 Olympics in the same city.
After their final win, the duo celebrated, with Rankireddy demonstrating smooth dance moves on the court and grooving to the arena's music..
You can catch Satwiksairaj Rankireddy’s dance performance through the video below:
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty are now India's biggest medal hopes for badminton in Paris Olympics
With this win, it can be said with some certainty that the pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty are most likely to win a medal for India in badminton at the 2024 Olympics.
Two-time medalist PV Sindhu, in women's singles, went through a torrid run of form last year before suffering an injury. Returning to the World Tour in the same tournament - the French Open - she recorded two hard-fought wins in the first two rounds.
However, in the third round, she lost to current Olympic champion Chen Yufei of China. Her prospects for a medal don't look as good as previously.
Hence, it's the Satwik-Chirag pair who would be carrying the biggest load of fans' hopes going into the Summer Games this year. The two are currently ranked No. 1 in the world.
This duo had endured a disappointing outing in the Tokyo Olympics. They failed to make it to the quarter-finals after finishing third in the group stage. This time, however, they are looking in red-hot form and would be very hard to stop.