Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have become the first Indian pair to be ranked No.1, across all three doubles categories in badminton

In all three doubles categories, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have made history by being the first Indian duo to be ranked #1 in the world in badminton. In the most recent BWF rankings, they moved up two positions. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty moved up two positions in the most recent Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings, which were revealed on Tuesday, making them the first Indian pair to be rated No. 1 in the world in all three doubles categories.

There are just three other Indians who share the honour of holding the first spot in the global rankings. When he rose to the top of the men's singles shuttler rankings in 1980, Prakash Padukone was the first. Thirty-five years passed until India produced another world No. 1 until Saina Nehwal did in 2015, shortly after she became the first Indian woman to reach the All England Open Badminton Championship final in the women's singles category.

After a stellar run of play that saw him make it to five Superseries finals and win four of them, Kidambi Srikanth became the second male player and third Indian player to hold the top spot in the rankings in 2018. However, Rankireddy and Shetty became the first Indian duo to hold the top spot, surpassing Chinese Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang as well as Indonesians Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto to do so.

The duo has had an incredible year, beginning with their victory at the Swiss Open in Basel in March. This is their first major victory since winning the French Open in October 2022. The following month, they maintained their momentum by becoming the first Indians to win the Badminton Asia Championships in 58 years. Before Rankireddy and Shetty won the coveted trophy in Dubai, Dinesh Khanna was the first Indian to win the continental competition back in 1965.

In addition to becoming the first Indians to triumph at every level of the World Tour, Rankireddy and Shetty had become the first winners of a Super 1000 tournament, the highest competition on the BWF World Tour.