Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, the pair of double male who had won gold championships and Asian world championships in 2022, had been included in an Indian team of 14 people for the Southirman Cup alongside PV Sindhu, Lakshya Sen and HS Prannoy.
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The Badminton Indian team underwent a major blow before the 2025 Southirman Cup with the pair of male male from Ace Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty left the tournament due to the disease. Development was confirmed by the Badminton Association of India (BAI) on Monday, six days before the 19th edition of the Biennial Mixed Team event, has to start in Xiamen, China.
Satwik and Chirag were included in an Indian team of 14 people for the next event alongside the former world champion and double Olympic medalist PV Sindhu as well as the medalists of the World Championships Lakshya Sen and HS Prannoy.
🚨update 🚨
The pair of male male Satwiksairaj Rankireddy / Chirag Shetty withdrew from the BWF Southirman CUP 2025 final due to a disease. No replacement will be added to the team.
Here is the revised team of Xiamen 🇨🇳👇#Sudirmipcup #Badminton #Teamindia #Bwf… pic.twitter.com/d4ko1wbr44
– Bai Media (@bai_media) April 21, 2025
The BAI has not appointed any replacement for Satwik and Chirag, leaving India with 12 players in the tournament which has been dominated by China and South Korea since its creation in 1989.
The duo had experienced a formidable race in 2022, winning a historic gold medal at Asian games and bronze in the world championships. They also helped India win a first gold medal at the Thomas Cup that year.
Satwik and Chirag, however, suffered a disappointing race at the Paris Olympic Games last year, arriving in the French capital as a medal favorites to retire in the quarter -finals after losing against Aaron Chia in Malaysia and Soh Wooi Yik.
India is also without Leo of the female duo Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly, which have been excluded due to an injury, in the next tournament where they were placed in a difficult group alongside Indonesia, Denmark and England.
The BAI included Priya Konjengbam and Shruti Mishra in the absence of Gayatri and Treesa.
Indian team update for the 2025 Southirman Cup:
Men: Lakshya Sen, HS Prannoy, Hariharan Amsakarunan, Kumar R ribbon, Dhruv Kapila, Sathish Kumar Karunakaran
Women: PV Sindhu, Anupama Upadhya, Tanisha Crasto, Priya Konjengbam, Shruti Mishra, Aadya Variyath
