Satwiksairaj Rankireddy

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy is an Indian badminton player born on 13th August 2000. He hails from the Amalapuram district of Andhra Pradesh. He specializes in Doubles and Mixed Doubles and represents India in these two categories internationally.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy- Early Life, Family & Background

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy was born to Kasi Vishwanath and Rangamani. His father is a former state-level badminton player and retired physical education teacher and his mother is a housewife. He has an elder brother Ramcharan Rankireddy, who is also a badminton player.

Sathwiksairaj picked up interest in badminton at the young age of 6. He received his initial training from his father, Kasi Vishwanath. He began practicing badminton under the tutelage of his father at the Officer's Club in Amalapuram, where Kasi Vishwanath is a President.

After watching Satwiksairaj badminton talent, his father decided to put him in an academy to receive professional training. In 2014, he joined the Gopichand Badminton Academy, where he trained under former badminton player and national coach Pullela Gopichand.

Sathwiksairaj tried his hand on singles and doubles and decided to focus on doubles and train as a doubles specialist.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy Biography

After receiving initial training from his father, Kasi Vishwanath, Satwiksairaj played district badminton tournaments, followed by the first title of his career at the Sub-Junior State Badminton Championships in the U-13 category.

Under the tutelage of Pullela Gopichand, Satwiksairaj's badminton career looked promising. In 2014, he won his first national doubles title with Krishna Prasad Garaga at the Sub-Junior Nationals Badminton in the U-17 category.

In 2015, Satwiksairaj and Krishna Prasad Garaga claimed their first International Gold medal in the U-17 Boys’ Doubles at the Asian Junior Badminton Championship. That year, he won his first senior international title with mixed doubles partner Kullapalli Maneesha at the Tata Open India International.

In 2016, Satwiksairaj triumphed 4 doubles titles and 3 mixed doubles titles in the International Challenge Series at the Mauritius International, India International Series, Tata Open India International, and Bangladesh International. In November, Satwiksairaj won his maiden senior national doubles title with Chirag Shetty and mixed doubles title with Kukkapalli Maneesha at the 81st Senior National Badminton Championships in Patna, Bihar

In 2017, Satwiksairaj defended his mixed doubles title with Ashwini Ponappa, but ended up as runner-up in doubles with Chirag at the 82nd Senior National Badminton Championships in Pune. The following year, Sathwiksairaj won the 3rd doubles title on the Indian circuit at the Hyderabad Open, followed by a runner-up at the Syed Modi International.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy Achievements

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy's major international accomplishment came in 2018 when he won the Silver medal with Chirag Shetty in a Doubles event, followed by a Gold medal in a Mixed Team event at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia. That year, he paired with Chirag Shetty at the Jakarta Asian Games but lost to South Korea’s Choi Solgyu and Min Hyuk Kang in the 2nd Round.

In 2019, Satwiksairaj broke into the limelight after he and Chirag Shetty won the Thailand Open Doubles Title by defeating China’s Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen, and became the 1st Indian doubles pair to win the Super 500 series title. That year, he reached the Doubles final and lost to Marcus Ferlandi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo of Indonesia at the French Open.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy made the cut for his debut Olympics at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and is seeded 9th with Chirag Shetty in Men’s Doubles category.