Satwik-Chirag drop stinker, defending champions suffer first-round exit in Asian Games 2026

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty’s bid to defend their men’s doubles badminton crown at the Asian Games ended in the opening round itself. Thailand’s Pakkapon Teeraratsakul and Peeratchai Sukphun stunned the Indian pair, producing a three-game upset in Aichi. The duo went down 12-21, 21-19, 21-14 to the world No. 36.

Their defeat brought an early end to the campaign for the players who made history at



Hangzhou 2023 by becoming the first Indian badminton players to win an Asian Games gold medal.

Meanwhile, Satwik and Chirag had entered the doubles event after contributing to India’s bronze-medal finish in the men’s team event. Earlier in the week, they had defeated world No. 3 and reigning world champions Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang 21-11, 22-20 in India’s team semi-final against the People’s Republic of China.