India has won a medal each in badminton at the last two Olympic Games. In the 2012 London Olympics, Saina Nehwal won the bronze medal and in Rio Olympics, PV Sindhu won a silver medal, both for the singles category. In Tokyo Olympics 2020, male duo of Chirag Shetty and Satwigsairaj Rankireddy carried India’s hope of winning another medal in the badminton doubles event. But unfortunately Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty crashed out of the Tokyo Olympics 2020 despite winning their last Group ‘A’ game against British pair of Ben Lane and Sean Vendy 21-17, 21-19 in Tokyo.
-- Advertisement --In the year 2022, Chirag, along with other team mates made history as they become the only 6th nation to win Thomas Cup.
Let’s get to know about Chirag Shetty, hopefully, a would-be pride for India at the Olympics.
Chirag Shetty Biography
| Name | Chirag Chandrashekhar Shetty |
| Chirag Shetty Age | 24 years |
| Date of Birth | 4 July 1997 |
| Chirag Shetty Coach | Tan Kim |
| Sport | Badminton |
| Chirag Shetty badminton racket | Voltric80 E-Tune |
| Achievement |
|
| Current Ranking | 7 (MD 22 March 2022) |
| Chirag Shetty Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) |
| Weight | 75 kg (165 lb) |
| Highest ranking | 7 (MD 12 November 2019) 413 (XD 27 August 2015) |
| Spouse | Unmarried |
| Chirag Shetty Sister | Arya Shetty |
| Chirag Shetty Parent | Chandrashekhar Shetty and Sujata Shetty |
| Chirag Shetty Hometown | Mumbai, India |
| Chirag Shetty Networth | $1-5 Million |
| Churag Shetty Partner | Satwiksairaj Rankireddy |
| Chirag Shetty Awards | Arjun Award |
| Zodiac Sign | Cancer |
| Alma mater | Ryan International Shool, Mumbai |
| Chirag Shetty college | Narsee Monjee College of Commerce and Economics, Mumbai |
| Chirag Shetty Instagram | @chiragshetty |
| Chirag Shetty Twitter | @Shettychirag04 |
Chirag Shetty Badminton Career
Born on 4th July 1997 in Mumbai, Chirag is lucky to have his parents who were very supportive throughout his growth as a badminton player. His father Chandrashekhar Shetty encouraged Chirag and his daughter, Arya Shetty to take up any sport. He preferred an individual sports event as he understands the nasty politics around selection in team sports. Although Chirag chose badminton which can be played individually and with a partner, his main event became the doubles.
-- Advertisement --At a very young age, Chirag showed great potential in the sport. He became the badminton champion of his school, Ryan International. The start of his professional career was at the Uday Pawar Academy. As he developed as one of those budding badminton talents in India, he moved to Hyderabad to join the Gopichand Academy, one of the finest factories of world-class players. There he found his doubles partner coming from Andhra Pradesh, Satwigsairaj Rankireddy.
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A glorious duo: Chirag Shetty & Satwiksairaj Rankireddy
The Chirag & Satwiksairaj Rankireddy duo had a great mutual understanding and gained popularity in no time. The young pair have secured six Badminton World Federation series gold medals (2016 – Mauritius International, India International series, Tata Open India International, Bangladesh International. 2017 – Vietnam International, 2019 – Brazil International).
-- Advertisement --In 2018 and 2019, they won the Hyderabad Open and Thailand open respectively. They were also the runners-up of the Syed Modi International tournament. But the biggest of all that Chirag has achieved is the gold medal at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games 2018 in the mixed-team event. It was his father’s dream to see him win a medal at the Commonwealth games and all his efforts of making him such a prolific player paid off with that 3-1 victory against Malaysia. Chirag and his partner Satwigsairaj also won the silver medal in the men’s doubles event in the same Commonwealth games losing to England’s Marcus Ellis and Chris Langridge. Even more admiring about this young boy is that he showed enormous grit by winning all these with a recovering back injury.
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Chirag Shetty Family
Unlike those parents who discourage their children to pursue sports and force them to focus on academics, Shetty’s parents Chandrashekhar Shetty and Sujatha Shetty were as concerned as him to reach higher echelons. His sister, Arya Shetty is also a professional badminton player. Chandrashekhar Shetty was very nurturing for his son. Though he initially disliked being a team-sport player, he never discouraged him. Instead, he didn’t even allow Chirag to stay alone for 15 days. If such a situation comes, he would go with his son and stay near his hotel room. Wherever Chirag has a tournament in India, Chandrashekhar would follow him there. Usually, he watches badminton matches for entertainment but he would become very anxious watching Chirag on the court. A major part of Chirag’s success lies with his father’s interest and commitment to see him win every match.
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Form and performance
The Chirag-Satwigsairaj duo is currently trained under former No.1 ranked doubles player, Mathias Boe. In the Men’s Doubles event, Chirag is currently tenth in the ranking. The highest he has ever been is No.7. If things go as Indian badminton legend Pullela Gopichand predicted, India would have their highest medal tally in the history of the Olympics this year. If so, we can’t rule out the chances of Chiragand Satwigsairaj Rankireddy making our nation proud at Tokyo 2020.
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Awards & achievements
- Arjun Award
Commonwealth Games
(Men’s doubles)
| Year | Venue | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Carrara Sports and Leisure Centre, Gold Coast, Austral |
Satwiksairaj Rankiredd | Marcus Ellis, Chris Langridge |
13–21, 16–21 | Silver |
BWF World Tour (3 titles, 2 runners-up)
Men’s doubles
| Year | Tournament | Level | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Hyderabad Open | Super 100 | Satwiksairaj Rankireddy | Akbar Bintang Cahyono, Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani |
21–16, 21–14 | Winner |
| 2018 | Syed Modi International | Super 300 | Satwiksairaj Rankireddy | Fajar Alfian, Muhammad Rian Ardianto |
11–21, 20–22 | Runner-up |
| 2019 | Thailand Open | Super 500 | Satwiksairaj Rankireddy | Li Junhui, Liu Yuchen |
21–19, 18–21, 21–18 | Winner |
| 2019 | French Open | Super 750 | Satwiksairaj Rankireddy | Marcus Fernaldi Gideon, Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo |
18–21, 16–21 | Runner-up |
| 2022 | India Open | Super 500 | Satwiksairaj Rankireddy | Mohammad Ahsan, Hendra Setiawan |
21–16, 26–24 | Winner |
BWF International Challenge/Series (6 titles)
Men’s doubles
| Year | Tournament | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Mauritius International | Satwiksairaj Rankireddy | Dhruv Kapila, Saurabh Sharma |
21–12, 21–16 | Winner |
| 2016 | India International Series | Satwiksairaj Rankireddy | Goh Sze Fei, Nur Izzuddin |
8–11, 11–5, 7–11, 11–8, 11–5 | Winner |
| 2016 | Tata Open India International | Satwiksairaj Rankireddy | Arjun M.R., Ramchandran Shlok |
10–12, 11–9, 11–7, 11–5 | Winner |
| 2016 | Bangladesh International | Satwiksairaj Rankireddy | M. Anilkumar Raju, Venkat Gaurav Prasad |
17–21, 21–7, 21–8 | Winner |
| 2017 | Vietnam International | Satwiksairaj Rankireddy | Trawut Potieng, Nanthakarn Yordphaisong |
17–21, 21–9, 21–15 | Winner |
| 2019 | Brazil International | Satwiksairaj Rankiredd | Jelle Maas, Robin Tabeling |
21–14, 21–18 | Winner |
Social Media
Chirag Shetty Twitter
Know Your Athlete@Shettychirag04 is putting in his best efforts to perform well at #Tokyo2020. He is confident that he will make India proud with his hard work and determination.
Let's wish him the best!#JeetengeOlympics@sonysportsindia @KirenRijiju @bai_media #badiminton pic.twitter.com/bGBt5dYu8U
— SAIMedia (@Media_SAI) June 3, 2021
Never skip a leg day 🦵#RiseoftheRacquet @Shettychirag04 pic.twitter.com/9wmKhZQBEM
— PBL India (@PBLIndiaLive) September 30, 2020
Did you know that @Shettychirag04 holds the record of the fastest smash (420kmph) in #PBLSeason5? 🤩
He is showing us the best way to smash the mid-week blues 🔥
📸 Credit: Instagram / Badminton Photo #RiseOfTheRacquet pic.twitter.com/MMD9NiGA2K
— PBL India (@PBLIndiaLive) September 15, 2020
Battling injuries heading into the 2019 Thailand Open, a calmer duo magnificently adapted to the circumstances to reign supreme. @olympicchannel features the first #TeamIndia🇮🇳 Men’s Doubles pair to win a Super Series title! @Shettychirag04 @satwiksairaj https://t.co/IKbMjgNvlF
— Team India (@WeAreTeamIndia) August 5, 2020
