Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Chirag Shetty, medal contenders at Paris Olympics: Form guide, and career highlights

Not every time sports fanatics in India hold a realistic expectation of a gold medal from an Indian athlete at the Olympics. However, Abhinav Bindra's historic gold at the Beijing Olympics brought a monumental shift.

Bindra's gold in shooting gave sports lovers in India a concrete reason to hope and back their athletes across several sporting disciplines, irrespective of the outcome.

After a spell of drought, track and field athlete Neeraj Chopra reinfused hope in the hearts and minds of fans as he scripted history at the Tokyo Olympics with his gold in the men's javelin throw.

It's been three years since Neeraj Chopra's mask-clad image holding a gold medal took the social media platforms by storm and the nation is now ready to place its bets on two young war-horses who have triggered major upheavals in the badminton men's doubles circuit.

Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy have emerged as a top contender for gold at the Paris Olympics and might as well live up to their billing as their worst is way past them.

After being paired together in 2018, Chirag and Satwiksairaj struggled to strike a chord and had reached a point of calling it quits.

"Earlier, it felt a lot like a burden that someone is purposely making me play with him and it's all against our wishes that we are partnering each other. We didn't speak the same language," revealed Chirag during an interaction with Dinesh Karthik on JioCinema.

"I'm used to saying it in Hindi. He (Satwiksairaj) used to play with a partner who used to speak the same language."

Notably, their Malaysian coach Tan Kim Her managed to convince the two to give their partnership some time and advised against taking a premature decision. Chirag revealed that the Malaysian coach told them that they had the potential to break into the top 20 in the doubles category as they had a really good attack.

"The moment he had that conversation with us, I think it became less of a burden and more of us wanting to partner each other," he concluded.

The Indian badminton fans and the sports fans in general are expecting a gold from the pair and there is robust reason for it.

Satwik and Chirag know what it takes to be called world champions. In October 2023, Satwik and Chirag became the first Indians to claim the No. 1 rank in the doubles category.

They are now ranked three and are more than capable of winning that glorious gold in Paris.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty's draw for Paris Olympics

How have Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty performed in 2024 so far?

Career achievements in men's doubles