BWF World Championships 2023: Rankireddy-Shetty crash out of the quarter-finals
In a shocking development, the world number two men's doubles pairing of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty has crashed out of the 2023 BWF World Championships in Copenhagen on Friday. They were beaten by the local stars Anders Rasmussen and Kim Astrup in straight games 21-18, 21-19 in 48 minutes. The Indians were one of the contenders for the title this year. Here's more.
BWF head-to-head: Rankireddy-Shetty 2-6 Rasmussen-Astrup
The home pairing of Astrup and Rasmussen has a positive head-to-head record against the Indians. Before this match, the Danes led 5-2 from the seven encounters in the BWF events. The Indians lost the last time they played in the BWF World Tour Finals in 2021 but defeated them in the 2021 Thomas Cup. With this win, the Danes have extended their head-to-head lead.
A look at their journey in the 2023 World Championships
Rankireddy-Shetty received a first-round bye in the World Championships. They started the tournament with a 21-16, 21-9 win over the Australian duo of Lim Ming Chuen and Kenneth Choo in the second round. The Indians worked hard to win against the Indonesian duo of Leo Carnardo and Daniel Marthin 21-15, 19-21, 21-9 in the pre-quarterfinals. They lost the quarter-finals 18-21, 19-21 against the Danes.
A fantastic year for Rankireddy-Shetty
Rankireddy-Shetty have been truly amazing this year as they have risen to world number two in the BWF Rankings. They have won four titles this year, which include three BWF titles- the Swiss Open, the Indonesia Open, and the Korea Open. They also won the gold medal at the 2023 Badminton Asia Championships. The Indian doubles pairing owns a win-loss ratio of 30-9 (2023).
Rankireddy-Shetty won the bronze medal in the last edition
The Indian pairing won the bronze medal in the 2022 World Championships. Rankireddy-Shetty lost the semi-finals against Malaysian duo Aaron Chia and Soh Wooh Yik and had to settle for bronze. That was India's first-ever men's doubles medal in the competition.
