Chirag Shetty Height, Age, Girlfriend, Family, Biography & More
Bio/Wiki | |
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Other Name | Chirag Chandrashekhar Shetty [1]Hindustan Times |
Profession | Indian professional badminton player |
Physical Stats & More | |
Height (approx.) | in centimeters- 186 cm in meters- 1.86 m in feet & inches- 6’ 1” |
Weight (approx.) | in kilograms- 60 kg in pounds- 135 lbs |
Eye Colour | Black |
Hair Colour | Black |
Badminton | |
International Debut | Swiss Junior Open 2014 Men’s Doubles |
Team | India |
Coach/Mentor | • Uday Pawar • Mathia Boe |
Events | • Men's Doubles • Mixed Doubles |
Handedness | Right |
Highest Ranking | • 7 (MD 12 November 2019) • 413 (XD 27 August 2015) |
Medals | Gold • 2018: Commonwealth Games, Mixed team, Gold Coast, Australia • 2023: Asian Games, Men's Doubles • 2024: French Open, Men's Doubles Silver • 2018: Commonwealth Games, Men's doubles, Gold Coast, Australia Bronze • 2016: Asia Team Championships, Men's team, Hyderabad, India • 2020: Asia Team Championships, Men's team, Manila, Philippines |
Badminton World Federation (BWF) Tournament(s) | BWF International Challenge/Series • 2016: Winner at Mauritius International, Men's doubles • 2016: Winner at India International Series, Men's doubles • 2016: Winner at Tata Open India International, Men's doubles • 2016: Winner at Bangladesh International, Men's doubles • 2017: Winner at Vietnam International, Men's doubles • 2019: Winner at Brazil International, Men's doubles BWF World Tour • 2018: Winner at Hyderabad Open (Super 100), Men's doubles • 2018: Runner-up at Syed Modi International (Super 300), Men's doubles • 2019: Winner at Thailand Open (Super 500), Men's doubles • 2019: Runner-up at French Open (Super 750), Men's doubles • 2024: Winner at French Open (Super 750), Men's doubles Swiss Open • 2023: Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy won doubles title, beating China's Ren Xiang Yu and Tan Qiang 21-19, 24-22; this was their fifth World Tour title. |
Awards & Honours | • Arjuna Award 2020 • Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award 2023 (9 January 2024) |
Personal Life | |
Date of Birth | 4 July 1997 (Friday) |
Age (as of 2024) | 27 Years |
Birthplace | Mumbai, India |
Zodiac sign | Cancer |
Nationality | Indian |
Ethnicity | Mangalorean [2]Rediff |
Hometown | Mumbai, India |
School | Ryan International School, Mumbai |
College/University | Narsee Monjee College of Commerce and Economics, Mumbai |
Food Habit | Non-Vegetarian [3]Olympic Channel Services |
Hobbies | Watching series and movies |
Relationships & More | |
Marital Status | Unmarried |
Affairs/Girlfriends | Not Known |
Family | |
Wife/Spouse | N/A |
Parents | Father- Chandrashekhar Shetty (Hotelier) Mother- Sujata Shetty (Runs an academy at Goregoan Sports Club) |
Siblings | Sister- Arya Shetty (Professional badminton player) |
Favourites | |
Badminton player(s) | Nikhar Garg, Saina Nehwal |
Tennis Player | Rafael Nadal |
Food | Pav Bhaji, Kori Roti, Pomfret Fry |
Musician(s)/band(s) | Major Lazer, Nucleya |
Game | Temple Run |
Film(s) | Bollywood- 2 States (2014), Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011) Hollywood- Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011), Born on the Fourth of July (1989) |
TV Shows | Indian: MTV Roadies, Chhote Miyan Dhaakad, Sacred Games American: Breaking Bad, Narcos, Friends |
Cartoon | Shin-chan |
Book | Touch Play - The Prakash Padukone Story |
Some Lesser Known Facts About Chirag Shetty
- Chirag Shetty is an Indian professional badminton player, who is specialized in mixed team & Men’s doubles events.
- Chirag Shetty started playing badminton at the age of 7 in his leisure time. Gradually, his interest grew in the sport, and he started practicing it professionally under the mentorship of Manish Hadkar at Goregaon Sports Club.
- After 10th standard, 16-year-old Chirag chose to pursue his career as a professional badminton player. Chirag was a very studious guy during his school days and was very much interested in learning science but, after passing in 10th standard, he chose to pursue his studies in commerce because choosing science as a subject requires a lot of time which was not possible with his professional training.
- Chirag Shetty participated in various club and state-level badminton events during his school days. Later, he moved to Hyderabad to train under Chief National Coach for the India national badminton team Pullela Gopichand at Pullela Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad. Chirag Shetty participated in various national and international level tournaments under his mentorship.
- Chirag always concentrated on being a doubles player, but his father, Chandrashekhar Shetty, was not very keen on his participation in a team sport. During an interview, Chandrashekhar said,
I did not want him to be playing a team game, because, unlike an individual sport, a lot of factors are involved in getting into a team, including politics. In an individual game, nobody can stop you if you are number one.”
But unlike other families, Chirag’s parents supported him in every situation and, made sure that he would want his children to take up sports and play in whatever form they want.
- Chirag Shetty made his professional debut by participating in Sushant Chipalkatti Memorial India Junior International Badminton Championship held in 2013, though he could not make it to the finals. In 2014, Chirag qualified for the Tata Open India International Challenge in a mixed doubles event with his doubles partner Kuhoo. The duo of Chirag and Kuhooo ended up losing the tournament in the quarter-finals.
- Chirag fenced his first-ever international gold medal with M.R Arjun in the Swiss Junior Open 2014 Men’s Doubles. 2014 proved to be a successful year for Chirag as he won his second international gold in Yonex Belgian Junior against Scotland.
- Later, Chirag Shetty joined the Pullela Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad for getting professionally trained under Pullela Gopichand, Chief National Coach for the Indian national badminton team. There, the coaches paired Chirag Shetty with Satwiksairaj Rankireddy for men’s doubles events. Initially, the duo was not very happy and comfortable with the pairing. Both Chirag and Satwiksairaj were predominantly back-court players the and it was very difficult for them to play as a team on the court. Shetty explained
Both of us used to just rush back after playing the shuttle at the net and that was a big problem.”
He added,
But then the coach spoke to us and explained that Satwik has a very good back-court game and I should try and concentrate on improving my front-court game. Once we started doing that, results started to come.”
- Chirag and Satwiksairaj’s off-court bonding was also not very good. Chirag grew up in Mumbai and Satwiksairaj belongs to the small town of Amalapuram in the East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh. The difference in personalities was not letting them infuse with each other. Satwiksairaj on being paired with Shetty shares his experience as
Earlier we used to stay in different rooms. I used to go out with Telugu people a lot. Then I didn’t like to go out with North Indian guys. He used to eat everything, I used to eat only Indian food. So I used to go alone. Our coach told us to stay together, go out together and now we have become good friends, he knows me well now and I know all about him as well.”
- The pairing of Chirag and Satwiksairaj worked magically for them, and the duo won a number of tournaments together, breaking many records and creating historic moments. They first came into the limelight after winning the Tata Open India International Challenge 2016. They also won the titles of Mauritius International, India International Series, Bangladesh International, and Vietnam Open international challenge together in the same year.
- Chirag and Satwiksairaj brought another gold medal to India after winning at the 2018 Commonwealth Games held in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
- Chirag Shetty, along with his badminton partner Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, was nominated for BWF Most Improved Player of the Year awards 2018.
- Chirag, along with his doubles partner Satwiksairaj, created history for Indian badminton by winning the title of French Open (Super 750) in 2019 and then clinching the title of the 2019 Thailand Open, becoming the first-ever Indian doubles pair to win a BWF Tour 500 event.
- Chirag Shetty marked his Premier Badminton League (PBL) in 2019 by participating in Pune 7 Aces teams. PBL provided him with the opportunity to play with his ideal badminton player, the great Indonesian shuttler Hendra Setiawan. Chirag on getting this opportunity said
I saw him win gold at the 2008 Olympics and now I’m playing with him. It’s funny how life pans out.”
He further added,
Also, the calmness that he has on the court is remarkable. It’s something that comes from experience.”
- In 2020, Chirag was awarded the Arjuna Award in a virtually held ceremony on 29 August, the National Sports Day, instead of the Rashtrapati Bhavan this year due to the pandemic. Chirag after receiving the award said,
I see it as a silver lining in these tough times. It’ll definitely motivate us to win big and work harder to bring back more laurels for the country. Also, I think it couldn’t have come at a better time.”
- Chief Minister of Maharashtra Shri Uddhav Thackeray felicitated Chirag Shetty on being awarded the Arjuna Award 2020.
- In 2021, Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj were selected for the Tokyo Olympics 2020. The duo performed their best, but unfortunately, they could not qualify for the knockout stage. Chirag posted a picture on his Instagram account, and he captioned it as –
Our reaction says it all – Are we through to the quarterfinals? Well sometimes even after giving your best it’s not enough to guarantee your place in the quarterfinals. When the draws were out we knew we were part of the strongest pool amongst the lot and we needed to be at our best to go past the group stage. Unfortunately for us, it ended up with 3 pairs winning 2 matches each which led to Games Won/Lost being the deciding factor. But that’s how the sport is and we have to live with it.”
- Chirag uses the Voltric 80 E-tune badminton racket in most of his tournaments.
- Chirag Shetty is fascinated with adventure sports and is often seen posting pictures of him performing adventure sports on his social media account.
- On 10 March 2024, Satwiksairaj and Chirag won gold for the second time in men’s doubles at the French Open, held at the Adidas Arena in Paris, France.
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