Satwiksairaj Rankireddy 'smashes' Guinness world record for fastest badminton hit!

Indian shuttler Satwiksairaj Rankireddy broke a decade-long standing Guinness World Record for the fastest badminton hit ever recorded with an astonishing 565 km/hour smash.

 

The speed greatly exceeded the previous world record of 493 km/hour which was achieved by Malaysian badminton player Tan Boon Heong, a former Asian Games doubles champion, in May 2013.

 

 

To put Satwiksairaj Rankireddy’s astonishing hit into context, the fastest speed recorded by a Formula 1 car is 397.48 km/hour while the fastest tennis serve maxes out at 263 km/hour.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy’s hit is the fastest badminton smash recorded irrespective of gender. The world record attempt was conducted under controlled conditions at the Yonex Tokyo Factory in Soka, Saitama, Japan, on April 14, 2023.

The marks were later verified by official judges from the Guinness world records based on the speed measurement results from that day.

How was it measured?

According to Yonex, the moments of impact in the actual smash was captured using a high-speed camera. While the instant velocity of the shuttlecock after the impact was calculated from the photographic recording. Rankireddy used a Yonex Nanoflare 1000 Z racquet for the record-breaking shot.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and his doubles partner Chirag Shetty, the world number 3 in men's doubles, will be in action at the Korea Open, a Super 500 event, this week. As of now, they are India's best bet for an Olympic medal in Paris next year.