Chirag Shetty and Swastiksairaj Rankireddy come together to lift Brazilian Challenge title

Chirag Shetty and Swastiksairaj Rankireddy come together to lift Brazilian Challenge title

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India’s promising men’s pair of Swastiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty came together after six months to win the 34th Brazilian Challenge title. The duo was supposed to play in New Zealand prior to this but a mix up there meant they had to travel to Brazil for their first tournament this year.

The men’s duo has been India’s only hope at the Tokyo Olympics in the doubles category with the other pairs being average at best. However, the world number 26 combination had to break after Reddy suffered a hairline fracture ahead of the Premier Badminton League. He consequently had to pull out from numerous as he wanted to be 100% fit before the Olympic qualification.

And it seems like the 18-year-old has regained his mojo as it was evident in the USD 25, 000 tournament where he alongside Shetty defeated Netherlands’ Jelle Maas and Robin Tabeling 21-14, 21-18 in straight games in the final.

The Indian duo hasn’t dropped a single game in the entire tournament, which would be very encouraging for the Indian badminton contingent ahead of the Olympics year. Starting against Peru’s Bruno Deza and Diego Mini, Reddy and Shetty overcame the challenge of Netherlands’ Jacco Arends and Ruben Jille, before reaching the final. 

The duo was supposed to play together in the New Zealand Open, which was played in the same week as the Brazilian International Challenge, but a confusion there meant that they travelled to Brazil for their first tournament of the year.

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