Chirag Shetty

Born on July 4, 1997, Chirag Shetty hails from a middle-class family in Mumbai, India. His father, Chandrashekhar Shetty, is a hotelier, while his mother, Sujata Shetty, manages a sports academy at the Goregaon Sports Club in Mumbai. Chirag has a younger sister named Arya. He completed his primary and secondary schooling at Ryan International School in Mumbai and pursued higher education at the Narsee Monjee College of Commerce and Economics.

Chirag began playing badminton at the age of seven as a leisurely activity and a way to stay fit. Over time, his passion for the sport deepened, and he started training professionally under the guidance of Manish Hadkar at Goregaon Sports Club. Chirag participated in numerous local and national badminton championships before reaching his teenage years.

Chirag Shetty relocated to Hyderabad to train at the esteemed Pullela Gopichand Academy under the guidance of Chief National Coach Pullela Gopichand. He made his first appearance on a professional level in the year 2013 at the Sushant Chipalkatti Memorial India Junior International Badminton Championship. 

Later that year, Chirag and his then-mixed doubles partner, Kuhoo, competed in the Tata Open India International Challenge 2013, performing well but not reaching the finals. Chirag’s first international gold medal came at the 2014 Swiss Junior Open Men’s Doubles, where he partnered with M.R. Arjun, the current partner of Dhruv Kapila. The successful duo continued to shine, claiming their second international gold at the Yonex Belgian Junior against Scottish opponents.

Recognizing the potential of Chirag, Malaysian coach Tan Kim Her decided to pair him with Satwiksairaj Rankireddy. Initially, their on-court and off-court rapport was strained due to their contrasting backgrounds as Chirag from Mumbai and Satwiksairaj from the small town of Amalapuram in Andhra Pradesh. However, their coach helped them understand each other’s strengths, with Satwik excelling at the back-court and Chirag focusing on improving his front-court game. 

The progress soon became visible as a pair as they worked together. Soon Chirag and Satwik became a formidable Indian badminton duo. They won their first international title in the form of the 2016 Tata Open India International Challenge. They then went on to win the Mauritius International, India International Series, Bangladesh International, and Vietnam Open International Challenge the same year.

In 2018, Chirag and Satwik played an essential role in securing India’s first-ever gold medal in the mixed team event at the Commonwealth Games. They also claimed their first silver medal as a pair at the same event, losing to England’s Marcus Ellis and Chris Langridge. In 2019, the dynamic duo became the first Indian doubles team to clinch a BWF Super title, winning at the Thailand Open against the formidable Chinese pair, Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen. They went on to finish as runners-up at the 2019 French Open, a Super 750 tournament.

Though they represented India at the Tokyo Olympics 2020, Chirag and Satwik were eliminated despite a victory over eventual gold medalists Lee Yang and Wang Chi-Lin in the group stage. In 2022, they began the year by capturing the India Open title. Their next significant achievement came when they helped secure India’s Thomas Cup victory by defeating Indonesia’s Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo and Mohammad Ahsan, giving India a 2-0 lead.

At the Commonwealth Games, the pair won the men’s doubles gold, defeating England’s Ben Lane and Sean Vendy 21-15, 21-13. During the BWF World Championships, Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy earned a historic bronze medal, marking India’s first men’s doubles medal at the event. They continued their stellar 2022 performance by winning the French Open, after finishing as runners-up in 2019.

In 2023, Chirag Shetty and Satwik seized the Swiss Open title, overcoming China’s Ren Xiang Yu and Tan Qiang 21-19, 24-22. At the recently concluded Badminton Asia Championships 2023, the duo etched their names in Indian sports history by claiming the men’s doubles title, becoming the first Indian to win the Asian Championships in 58 years.