Why Indian badminton owes Satwik-Chirag gratitude for keeping the sport relevant

That’s why Satwik-Chirag, even in a title-less year, deserve a thank you note. The game won’t ever get wiped out in India, given the light Saina Nehwal ignited 20 years ago. But 2025 came pretty close to recurring blackouts, where the sport seemed to have plateaued and was not moving forward, struck as it was by big hopes coming a cropper.

Unnati Hooda defeating PV Sindhu at the Chiba Open was perhaps the only result of significance for the future. But for Satwik-Chirag, it was important that their motivation didn’t dwindle, with LA 2028 in the distant horizon.

Between 2021 and 2023, Satwik-Chirag seemed to be destined for all the glory badminton offered. It wasn’t actually so, but success seemed to come easy to them as they hammered past opponents on the back of two of the most powerful smashes in international badminton. India were also world champions after winning the Thomas Cup.

But then 2024 struck.With burgeoning expectations, and their game dissected – the weaknesses teased out by the master-coaches of Malaysia, China and Indonesia – the ace Indians started tasting defeats in tournament finals. Missing out on the Olympic medal was a jolt, not just a sobering nudge for a sport that had tripped at the big occasion after three editions of Olympic medal returns. Coach Mathias Boe had left. Tall, attacking, aggressive, confident and far-too-nice at all times, Satwik-Chirag were forced to dig deep and learn counters to deceptive throttles that stymied their game.

Devious serves, parallel fast-drive games and all-court skills that were pickled into the heart of East Asian doubles styles – all varied in their guile, needed the Indian duo to step back, bolster fitness, learn tricks of the trade and build a scaffolding of defensive skills to add sturdiness to their natural attack.

On the rebound

Malaysian Tan Kim Her took on the challenge, and while it’s taken time, the Satwik-Chirag game looks far more resilient to deal with all sorts of opponents now.

It wasn’t just the titles that had gone missing, the confidence and swag in their Big Offence had also cracked. Because Satwik is naturally calm and cerebral, and Chirag one of the hardest workers and geekishly diligent, once they knew they had to adapt, they set about learning skills and counters to take on every opponent. It will be very difficult to dismiss them as an one-dimensional hard attacking pair, for they can skulk and bend and pick shuttles inches off the ground, trade swivel serves for tumble ones, and bring their own control to the flat game. 2025 might not have titles to show, but in their return to the Top 5 from World No.27, there was the sort of determination and willingness to attack that gives them a second wind.

Having achieved plenty, the duo could have rested on their laurels, doubled down on sticking to their attacking guns, and won a few in the short term. But they went about ironing out wrinkles which eventually made them better doubles shuttlers, reinventing and evolving while absorbing short-term setbacks, while they developed a versatile mentality.

Post the Thomas Cup, there was also the deflating realisation that a World Cup equivalent of a win in badminton will not get them the same adulation as cricketers do after a T20 crown. Indian sport refuses to evolve enough to appreciate landmark non-cricket wins, and Olympic athletes need to get on with life, and build legacies not seeking approval of the casuals.

While Satwik dealt with personal grief, Chirag added steel to his temperament. 2025 wasn’t one to turn heads or hit headlines. But it definitely fortified a unique partnership. They’re not ‘best friends’ to each other – each of them has thick bonds, social circles and comfort zones away from the court. But the badminton bond is stronger than ever. “I trust Shetty bhai’s serve like anything in crucial moments… I knew it was a matter of just one serve,” Satwik would say. That confidence is all that Chirag needs.

It’s a notoriously tough bunch to raze through, the Top 10 in men’s doubles. But for over four years now, Satwik-Chirag remain India’s brightest and, at times, only spark on the elite international badminton circuit.