‘It’s always Plan A’ for Satwik-Chirag
Badminton duo Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty won the 2026 China Masters after defeating He Ji Ting and Ren Xiang Yu. The pair attributed their success to improved physical conditioning and a steadfast commitment to their attacking game plan.
Why it matters
The win serves as a critical confidence boost for the pair as they prepare for their upcoming Asian Games title defense.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, down a game and staring at a third runner-up finish, tore up the script. They stormed back to beat home favourites He Ji Ting and Ren Xiang Yu 11-21, 21-13, 21-17 on Sunday, avenging two painful final losses in 2023 and 2025 to finally win the China Masters.
Satwik credited the win to a marked improvement in their physical conditioning, coming just weeks after a disappointing quarterfinal exit at the badminton World championships at home. “We weren’t sure how our bodies could cope throughout the week in China. But we became much better after the World championships. Our bodies settled down, and we got better. That’s a good sign going forward,” Satwik said during a virtual interaction on Monday.
Freshly minted Men's Doubles Champions #ChinaMasters 💐💐 They made our day, week and month #SatChi 🤩 📸: @badmintonphoto #ChinaMasters2026 pic.twitter.com/Ht1qkqwZLK
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in