Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty nominated for best pair in BWF Player of the Year Awards 2023
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, ranked fifth in men's doubles, were nominated for the pair of the year in this year's BWF Player of the Year awards. The nominees were ratified by the BWF Council and the performances were determined from November 1, 2022, to October 31, 2023, in the 2022-23 season.
Satwik and Chirag will compete with a couple of Chinese pair for the Best Pair of the Year 2023 award. The event is scheduled to take place on December 11 in Hangzhou, China.
Women's doubles World No.1 Chen Qing Chen/Jia Yi Fan, mixed doubles World No.1 Zheng Si Wei/Huang Ya Qiong (winner of 2022 best pair of the year), and Seo Seung Jae/Chae Yu Jung are the other nominees for best pair of the year.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have clinched five titles this year - Swiss Open, Badminton Asia Championships, Indonesia Open, Korea Open, and Asian Games - to storm to World No.1 ranking on October 10, 2023.
Following their exit in the second round of the French Open, they slipped to fifth spot. Satwik and Chirag became the first Indian pair to win a gold medal at the Asian Games.
Other nominations for BWF Player of the Year Awards 2023
World no.1 Danish Viktor Axelsen, Seo Sung Jae, and Kunlavut Vitidsarn will compete for the Male Player of the Year. Meanwhile, An Se Young, Chen Yu Fei, and Akane Yamaguchi were nominated for the Female Player of the Year award.
Daiki Kajiwara, Cheah Liek Hou, Lucas Mazur, and Kim Jungjun are contenders for Male Para Badminton Player of the Year. Leani Ratri Oktila, Rina Marlina, Sarina Satomi, Pilar Jauregui, Thulasimathi Murugesan, and Man-kei To have made the cut for the heavy nominations of Female Para Badminton Player of the Year.
Hikmat Ramdani/Leani Ratri Oktila, Subhan Subhan/Rina Marlina, Muhammad Fareez Anuar/Cheah Liek Hou, Sarina Satomi/Yuma Yamazaki, and Leani Ratri Oktila/Khalimatus Sadiyah are in contention for Para Badminton Pair of the Year.