"Satwik-Chirag just couldnโt find rhythm after the first game"- Twitter reacts as Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty settle for bronze at the 2022 BWF World Championships
The top Indian duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty settled for bronze in the ongoing 2022 BWF World Championships. They had assured themselves of the medal after qualifying for the semifinals on Friday, August 26. They became the first Indian men's doubles pair to win a medal at the World Championships.
In their semifinal clash on Saturday, the 2022 Commonwealth Games champions went down in a hard-fought battle against the Malaysian duo of Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik.
The final scoreline read 22-20, 18-21, 16-21 in a match that lasted for nearly an hour and 15 minutes.
In addition to their historic bronze medal, Satwik and Chirag will also take pride in their performance in the quarterfinals. The Indian duo stunned World No. 2 pair of Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi, who were also the defending champions.
With a bronze medal win, the Indian duo secured India's second doubles medal in the history of the World Championships. Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa had won the bronze medal at the 2011 edition of the event in the women's doubles category.
The duo of Satwik and Chirag have also extended India's all-time medal tally in the World Championships to 13.
st medal for 
from MD section
nd medal from 
th medal for 
1๏ธโฃst medal for ๐ฎ๐ณ from MD section
2๏ธโฃnd medal from ๐ฎ๐ณ's doubles pair
1๏ธโฃ3๏ธโฃth medal for ๐ฎ๐ณ at the #WorldChampionships
Proud of you @satwiksairaj & @Shettychirag04 ๐ฏ๐ฅ
#BWFWorldChampionships2022
#BWFWorldChampionships
#BWC2022
#Tokyo2022
#IndiaontheRise
#Badminton https://t.co/4DfmWxjYXI
In the 2022 edition of the World Championships, in the absence of double Olympic medallist Sindhu, India returned with just one medal.
Though their campaign in the BWF World Championships ended with a loss, Indian fans were full of praise for the pair of Satwiksairaj and Chirag. They expressed their opinions on Twitter.
Satwik-chirag historic bronze !
Neeraj Chopra Epic Comeback !
Linthoi Chanambam became world champion !
what gud 12hrs for indian sports ...
Game 1, Satwik-Chirag! Great composure by the Indians as they convert their second game point and take a lead in the match. The Malaysians only had the lead for one point in that game. No real celebration from the Indians as they head for the changeover.
#BWFWorldChampionships https://t.co/dk28n1GgAG
History Scripted ๐ฅ: Satwik / Chirag became 1st men double pair from India to confirm World championship medal
Satwik / Chirag beat former World champion Takuro Hoki/Yugo Kobayashi(JPN) by 24-22 15-21 21-14
They become only 2nd ๐ฎ๐ณ pair to reach double SF (Jwala /Ashwini in WD) https://t.co/dDmPxEwEGO
Final moments of the frenetic, nervy semifinal between Satwik-Chirag and Malaysians Chia-Soh. The Indians' warm embrace and smiles for their opponents at the net even after a gutting loss is lovely.
#BWFWorldChampionships2022
Via BWF https://t.co/DpdB3VXOrO
Congratulations to Chirag Shetty and Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy for winning the first-ever men's double medal at the BWF World Championships 2022
The duo secured bronze medal by defeating Malaysia's Aaron Chia and Wooi Yik. https://t.co/pIzWuGQdZQ
Satwik-Chirag just couldnโt find rhythm after the first game. Despite Chiragโs struggles though, they kept fighting and can take so much from this tournament. The first-ever Indian menโs doubles pair to win a medal at the world championships.๏ฟผ ๐
#BWFWorldChampionships https://t.co/C0bELuWB2l
๐ฎ๐ณ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐! Satwik & Chirag played a terrific match but fell short to Chia/Soh 22-20, 18-21, 16-21 in the semi- final.
๐คฉ This is India's first-ever men's doubles medal at the #BWFWorldChampionships.
#IndianBadminton #TeamIndia #Sportwalk https://t.co/thiRlmTdPO
The Satwik/Chirag medal will also continue India's streak of medals at the World Championships. Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa won a bronze medal at the BWF World Championships 11 years ago in 2011. Since then, a medal at every edition!
So it's a bronze for Chirag - Satwik. Expected a gold and they were on track after the first set win. But Chirag today was not at his best and we lost our nerves in the end.
In World Championships both pairs who lost in the semis get medals. Hope they improve more before 2024.
@BWFScore It was a neck and neck game all along, but it was the usual errors at crucial times that cost Chirag/Satwik. The error prone nature is a known issue for Satwik/Chirag. When they make those, they almost never get the confidence back & spirals into another web of errors
Also read: Tamil Nadu teenager Sankar Muthusamy jumps to World No. 1 spot in junior BWF rankings
India's overall record at BWF World Championships
PV Sindhu alone has won five medals in the badminton world's top event, the most by an Indian shuttler. She also became the first Indian to become the world champion, in 2019. Her other medals include two silvers and two bronzes.
The World No. 7 opted out of the 2022 BWF World Championships after suffering a left foot stress fracture during the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
Among the other medallists are former World No. 1 Saina Nehwal (silver and bronze), Kidambi Srikanth (silver), Lakshya Sen (bronze), B Sai Praneeth (bronze), and Prakash Padukone (bronze).