New Delhi, Sept. 17 -- As Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty completed the comeback over local pair of He Ji Ting and Ren Xiang in the final of China Masters 2026 in a rush of five straight points, the trademark celebration followed. Shetty pulled off his T-shirt and gestured to the crowd to make noise, Rankireddy broke into a jig.

But the usual exuberance was missing. It had been a marathon match at the end of a marathon tournament. To top it, Rankireddy had been managing a shoulder injury while Shetty's back was heavily strapped. Over the course of the event, they spent more than 5 hours on the court. In the final, they wiped out a game deficit to win 11-21, 21-13, 21-17 in an hour and 10 minutes. Sheer will had dragged their ti...