Asian Games 2026: China Masters gave us confidence, but staying fit will be crucial, says Satwik

The China Masters win earlier this month has reinforced Satwik’s belief that he can endure the rigours in Japan. | Photo Credit: Getty Images

Indian doubles shuttler Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy said on Thursday that the recent China Masters title has boosted his confidence, but stressed that he and partner Chirag Shetty must carefully manage their workload across the gruelling 10-day Asian Games schedule.

Satwik and Chirag will be defending the historic men’s doubles gold they won at Hangzhou 2023, though Satwik is acutely aware of the physical demands a multi-sport event of this scale can impose.

“Asian Games is a little special. It’s a 10-day tournament, as we generally play for only five days or so. You need to be fit enough for this long tournament,” Chirag said during a media interaction. “There will be a lot of traveling. There will be a lot of sitting through in the team event matches,” he added.

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Beyond the extended duration, Chirag acknowledged that their aggressive style amplifies the strain on their bodies. “I feel that we are the enemies because we play a lot of aggressive games. So, we might pick up a lot of injuries, while playing with the tall bodies and engaging in fast rallies while playing doubles. “If we are in good shape, we would have been holding that number one position for a longer time. But we had to skip many tournaments because we kept getting injured,” he added.

On the question of pressure as defending champions, Satwik insisted they treat each event as a new challenge. “For me and Chirag, it’s always a fresh tournament. All these tournaments, I feel like I’m playing for the first time. “We want to do well. We want to be there in the medal tally. But there’s no pressure for me and Chirag,” he said.

Still, the China Masters win earlier this month has reinforced Satwik’s belief that he can endure the rigours in Japan. “…China Open, it was more about physical understanding because tactically, we were right up there. Playing back-to-back matches every day, I think that was more important for me. How my body is handling those situations. It was a big boost for me,” he added.

Satwik underwent extensive rehabilitation for a shoulder injury before heading to China, and the event provided reassuring signs about his recovery. “I’ve been doing rehab a lot in the last two months because I was injured. I think the China Open, as I said, gave us a lot of confidence. I’m in good shape now. There’s no need to panic. I can play five matches in a row. That (China Masters) was a testament for me,” he said.

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This followed a quarter-final exit at the BWF World Championships in New Delhi, a campaign that underlined the importance of body management ahead of the continental showpiece. “World Championships gave me a lot of confidence because I was playing without my weapons.”

“I was playing in the quarterfinal without my A game. “After that I mentally decided that I need to take care of my body and not to think so much about it (injury) on court. “So, I think it’s just that I have to be a little bit more careful of the body and manage the load on it,” he said.

( With added inputs from PTI).

Published on Sep 17, 2026

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