Indian badminton star Satwiksairaj Rankireddy on Tuesday shattered the Guinness World Record for the fastest smash in the sport, breaking a decade-old record.
Satwik, who recently won the Indonesia Open 2023 with his men's doubles partner Chirag Shetty, smashed the previous record by 72 Kmph, which was held by Malaysia's Tan Boon Heong (493 Kmph) in 2013.
Satwik's smash was faster than the official top speed of a Formula One car which was set by Juan Pablo Montoya during the 2005 Italian Grand Prix at 372.6 kmph.
Tan Pearly sets fastest smash record in female category
Meanwhile, the women's record for the fastest smash has also been broken by Tan Pearly of Malaysia with a hit recorded at 438 Kmph. With this, Tan became the first female Guinness World Records title holder in the category.
"Yonex is proud to announce that Yonex badminton athletes, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND) and Tan Pearly (MAS), have set new Guinness world records title for the fastest male and female badminton hits.
"Since the previous Guinness world records title for the fastest badminton hit was recorded in May 2013, this means that Rankireddy broke the record for the first time in more than a decade," the Japanese sports equipment manufacturing company said in a release.
World records achieved in April
Rankireddy and Tan’s world record attempts were achieved on April 14, 2023, and were verified by official judges from the Guinness World Records based on the speed measurement results from that day.
The moments of impact in the actual smash was captured using a high-speed camera. The instant velocity of the shuttlecock after the impact was then calculated from the photographic recording, Yonex revealed.
