India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty made historical past by profitable the China Masters 2026 badminton males’s doubles title after rallying from behind in Shenzhen on Sunday.
The Indian pair, fifth within the badminton rankings, beat the Individuals’s Republic of China’s former world No. 4 mixture of He Jiting and Ren Xiangyu 11-21, 21-13, 21-17 in an hour and 10 minutes within the remaining of the BWF Tremendous 750 occasion.
The triumph made Satwik and Chirag the primary Indian badminton players to win the China Masters for the reason that event began in 2005.
The reigning Asian Games males’s doubles badminton champions had completed runners-up in Shenzhen in 2023 and 2025 and made a semi-final look in 2024.
The China Masters badminton triumph was additionally Satwik and Chirag’s tenth profession title on the BWF World Tour and their second of the 2026 season.
He Jiting and Ren Xiangyu, who received bronze on the Badminton Asia Championships earlier this yr, raced to a 5-0 lead within the first sport and maintained their benefit to take the opener.
Satwik and Chirag conceded early factors within the second sport however drew degree at 6-6. A 3-point burst then helped the Indian shuttlers construct momentum as they went into the mid-game interval 11-7 forward.
The fourth-seeded Indian pair then stretched their benefit and, regardless of a quick fightback from He Jiting and Ren Xiangyu, received the ultimate 4 factors within the second sport to pressure a decider.
The Indians then needed to play catch-up as soon as once more within the deciding sport after conceding the opening 4 factors.
They steadily labored their manner again into the competition and drew degree at 7-7, however have been unable to maneuver forward because the Chinese language pair continued to carry a slender 11-9 benefit on the interval.
Satwik and Chirag, actually, additionally trailed 17-16 at one stage earlier than a robust end noticed them win 5 consecutive factors. They drew degree at 17-all and took the lead for the primary time within the sport, closing out the competition to seal the title.
The victory prolonged Satwik and Chirag’s good head-to-head file in opposition to He Jiting and Ren Xiangyu to 3-0. The Indians had additionally crushed the Chinese language pair on the China Masters 2023 and the Malaysia Open 2024.
Sunday’s victory handed the Indian duo its fourth BWF Tremendous 750 crown. They beforehand received the French Open at this degree in 2022 and 2024 earlier than lifting the Singapore Open title earlier this yr.
Satwik and Chirag will subsequent flip their consideration to the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, which will get underway on September 19.
The badminton competitors will run from September 20 to 29, with Satwik and Chirag heading to Japan because the reigning Asian Video games males’s doubles champions.
