The teaming up of 20-year-old Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and 23-year-old Chirag Shetty in a badminton doubles event in 2016-17 and their steady rise in the BWF rankings have helped India look beyond the singles performances in major competitions recently. The duo are currently ranked number 10 in the world rankings, but not without their share of ups and downs, working under multiple coaches and facing COVID-19 setbacks... only to rise in triumph.
Satwik and Chirag are the only pair in badminton from India to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. They are currently gearing up for a good showing at home in the India Open scheduled to take place in May. With the competition curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the duo will look to make the most of the competitions they are participating in, with an eye on the Olympic Games.
They have had a mixed result so far in 2021, after the sport resumed―they reached the semifinals of the Thailand Open and the Swiss Open but couldn’t go beyond the second round of the All England Open. Having worked with Indonesian and Malaysian coaches in the past, they are now working with former Denmark player Mathias Boe and figuring out how to balance his way of playing with their own.
Both are attacking players, quite similar, but having played together so long has its advantage.
“It is not possible to keep attacking all the time. We are aware that we need a Plan B and we are working towards it,” said Satwik during an online interaction organised with the duo by the Sports Authority of India and TOPS.
“We were trying to play a new style of the game. We may not have played our best but we played a game which was a lot more tactical, a different style of play.”
They are now experienced enough to cope with the changes in their game courtesy the European style taught by Boe.
“Getting used to a new coach and a different kind of set up is a challenge. But both of us are at a level where we can play all kinds of game. It’s just that we need some kind of tactical improvement in our game. We can defend, we can attack. We just need a few corrections here and there,” Satwik added.
Giving an insight into the changes that Boe has brought around, Chirag said, “Before Monday, we get our training schedule for the week, we know what we are going to be doing, it’s more structured and well planned.”
Aside from the challenge of working out what suits them best with a new coach, Satwik and Chirag have also had to cope with COVID-19 individually. While Satwik got infected last year, Chirag’s family returned positive recently. In fact, he lost his maternal grandfather to the deadly virus. However, he couldn’t spend much time at home with his family as he had to return to the SAI-Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad for further training.
Speaking about the aftereffects of COVID-19, Satwik said, “For a month I couldn’t leave the room. I was very disturbed.” He had also gained 5kg. On his return to Hyderabad post-recovery, he realised there were greater challenges to face. “For two months, there was no on-court training, so it was demotivating. I am still not sure whether I am 80 per cent or 100 per cent at my peak fitness levels,” said Satwik.
For Chirag, COVID-19 has been a very sobering experience.
“It was a difficult time. My younger uncle got it, then my grandfather contracted it and he was in the hospital. When he passed away, everyone, who was staying with him, had been infected and couldn’t even attend the funeral. Another elder, a close relation, had passed away last month. You realised the virus had started hitting your family. It’s been difficult.”
Nevertheless, Chirag is back in Hyderabad, preparing for another tournament. With the uncertainty around competitions and Olympics still hovering, Chirag says the best way to cope with it is to not think about it.
“The situation now is really bad. [I] don’t know whether events will take place or not, the Olympics is three months away. Our mantra I guess is to not have expectations (regarding competitions pre-Olympics).”
