Badminton News: Satwiksairaj, who had not spoken to his father the day before the final but was chatting with his mother to whom he expressed complete faith in winning the final, seemed delighted with his upcoming victory on the day of the party some fathers.
“It’s for you, dad,” was one of doubles champion Satwiksairaj Rankireddy’s first reactions after he and partner Chirag Shetty made history by becoming the first Indian duo to win the men’s doubles title at the BWF Super 1000 Indonesia Open on Sunday.
The doubles champion also told his father that the presence of national head coach P. Gopi Chand also made a huge difference apart from the valuable advice of the ubiquitous doubles coach Mathias Boe.
“We stick to the plan. We feel that they are human, that they are players and that they will also make mistakes. We stuck to the plan until the end and we never really gave them the chance to come back,” he said.
“Even in the second game, when they got points, we didn’t need to hold back and play it safe. It would make the game a bit slower and they’re good at taking advantage of that. I’m very happy and we really needed this win,” commented Chirag Shetty.
“During the last tournaments, I didn’t feel like dancing because I was hungrier. We won this tournament, and next week we will have another one. We went back and reorganized,” Satwiksairaj said.
“But I’m still happy with the way we played. It was like a new day, against a new opponent. We were down 8-0 head-to-head but I don’t think about it too much. I think it’s t’s a final and both teams are under pressure and if we play well we will win. We were under control when we got hit in the first game. I thought to myself this is our day, don’t panic and play like any other final,” he explained.
BAI Secretary General Sanjay Mishra said it was a historic and fantastic victory for India.
“And it is also a testament to how quickly Indian badminton is climbing the double ladder globally. Also, a big round of applause to the coaches and support staff for delivering such back-to-back performances,” a- he declared.
Article Tags: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Chirag Shetty, Indonesia Open 2023
