New Delhi: When you watch Christopher and Matthew Grimley play on court, there is little to tell them apart. The identical twins are almost the same height, with Chris at 177 cm and Matthew at 176 cm. They have the same hairstyle and wear the same kit. So much so that umpires sometimes end up warning the wrong player between points. When you listen to them speak, their Scottish accent does not make things any easier, either.Nicknamed the ‘Grimley Twins’, a tag they have embraced, the 26-year-olds grew up in Scotland and dabbled in both football and badminton before settling on the latter. After playing at various clubs, they joined the junior national team at 10 and the senior national team after leaving school.The brothers used their similarities in mischievous ways.“One time, I had a nosebleed when I was playing a singles match. It was a junior match, and I had to go to the toilet to clean my nose and switch off for a bit. So my mom said, as a joke, to go on court and see if they noticed,” said Christopher Grimley with a laugh, before continuing, “But I was playing one of my friends, so he said straight away. At school, we used to swap seats. The teachers didn’t know… but we don’t share girlfriends!”
Christopher Grimley and Matthew Grimley of Scotland play against Kevin Lee and Ty Alexander Lindeman of Canada during the Badminton World Championships in New Delhi, India, Monday, Aug. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
At the junior level, they had a strong rivalry in singles before pairing up for doubles. Now focused solely on doubles, they made a positive start at the Delhi World Championships, beating Kevin Lee and Ty Alexander Lindeman 21-17, 19-21, 21-10 on Monday.Off the court, they have a tendency to finish each other’s sentences, frequently interrupt one another and, bizarrely, disagree over shared memories. But having family around is an advantage not just for bouncing ideas off each other. They can also rely on one another for motivation.
At school, we used to swap seats. The teachers didn’t know… but we don’t share girlfriends!
Christopher Grimley
“We’ve played with each other for so long. We started playing badminton when we were six, and we’ve always been doubles partners, so I feel like we know where the other is on the court. You know what the other is thinking most of the time,” said Christopher.Matthew agrees. “I agree, especially when maybe we’re not feeling so good. Because we’re together, we can bring each other up easily. I know if Chris is feeling down, I know how to bring him up and vice versa,” said one half of the 2018 European Junior Championships silver medal-winning pair.For World No. 5 Frenchman Christo Popov, playing doubles with his brother Toma Jr. Popov offers an opportunity to have fun, something that is not always possible in men’s singles.“It’s just a lot of fun,” he said earlier in the year. “For me, and I think for my brother as well, doubles is a way during tournaments to enjoy ourselves on court.”“At this level, it can easily become not only about being happy on court, but also about a lot of work. Sometimes it can be tough mentally to stay at a very high level all the time. Doubles helps with that,” he continued.
For me, and I think for my brother as well, doubles is a way during tournaments to enjoy ourselves on court.
Christo Popov
While the duo were easily swept aside in the Round of 64 at the Delhi World Championships, there is no intention to focus purely on singles at the moment. Personal bonding remains one of the factors behind brothers playing doubles, but the fact that they come from smaller badminton nations also plays a role, as Czech siblings Ondrej and Jiri Kral acknowledge.With fewer than 10 professional players in the Czech Republic, shuttlers often end up working with their siblings from the amateur level and beyond. Introduced to badminton by their father and older brother, Ondrej and Jiri began with singles before switching to doubles at the junior level.
Ondrej Kral and Jiri Kral in action on Day 1 of the BWF World Championships.
Only a year apart, with Ondrej 27 and Jiri turning 26 in December, they admit there are both positives and negatives to working with a sibling.“You can be open with your brother. We are also good friends. Because on tour you spend so much time together, especially as we are a small country and a small group travelling. Sometimes we go even by ourselves with our coach, so we just spend all the time together. So it’s nice that we click and it’s working,” said Jiri.Ondrej presented the other side of the coin. “I think the thin line is maybe sometimes saying too much, because as brothers, we are more open than we are not. So you can sometimes cross the line and maybe say a bit too much, and then we get angry at each other,” he said with a chuckle.
