HYDERABAD: In badminton, it is generally the singles players that hogs the limelight, courtesy consistent wins on the international arena. But doubles barely garners any accolades, with no real concrete performances in recent times. For long, Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa were the doyens of women’s doubles, who also managed to win a World Championship bronze in 2011, while Jwala and V Diju once used to be India’s best bet in mixed doubles. Men’s doubles has always been lagging.
But two youngsters, who have just made their way from the junior circuit — Satwik Sairaj and Chirag Shetty — are here to change things in men’s doubles for good. Having already qualified for the upcoming World Championship in Glasgow, that begins on August 21, the duo are keen to make their presence felt.
“We moved to the senior circuit just a year back. We were ranked more than 300 initially, but that came down to World No 31. We were India No 1 recently, so that is no mean feat. The more time we spend playing together, we are going to get better,” 19-year-old Chirag told Express.
“This year we have gained a lot of experience, and we know that we belong on the big stage. We want to prove ourselves in the world championships too,” 17-year-old Satwik said.
Last year, Chirag and Satwik won back-to-back titles in Bangladesh, India and Mauritius, while their biggest win came in 2017, where they clinched the Vietnam Open international challenge. They managed to topple former Olympic and world champion Markis Kido and his partner Hendra Gunawan en route title. “We have been beating pairs ranked higher than us regularly. It was a big confidence booster,” the duo added.
Usually for players so young, no one would expect them to pose a challenge to opponents who are 10-15 years older and much more experienced. But these two are live-wires on the court, and can cause an upset.
“We play Japanese pair of Hiroyuki Endo and Yuta Wantanabe in the first round. It will be an interesting match. We don’t want to come empty-handed, and playing quarterfinals is our dream.”
But Satwik and Chirag will be wary of giving away easy points when in lead, a problem that has plagued other Indian doubles teams. “We have to work out on certain areas as well. Not giving away easy points is one of them. Usually when we get a lead of 4-5 points, we just throw the advantage away,” they concluded.
Players yet to receive passports
The passport issue never seems to be getting over. Passports of Satwik Sairaj, Chirag Shetty, Shlok Ramchandran and Madathil Ramchandran Arjun haven’t arrived from the UK consulate. They were sent on August 2. The team is due to leave for Glasgow on August 18.
madhav@newindianexpress.com