CHENNAI : Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty played the match of their lives, becoming the first Indian pair to enter the final of a BWF Super 500 tournament. Their thrilling 22-20, 22-24, 21-9 semifinal win over the 19th-ranked Korean pair of Ko Sung Hyun and Shin Baek Cheol in the Thailand Open is trending on Twitter with peers praising their run.
The duo is not tensed ahead of the final against third seeds and reigning world champions Li Jun Hui and Liu Yu Chen of China. Their immediate concern is not professional at all. Rather, it is something that people face in daily lives. “The first thing to do before the final is laundry. We need a fresh pair of clothes,” they joked.
While they had faced tougher opponents prior to the win on Saturday in terms of rankings, the semifinal against the former world champions was something else. “The intensity and the fact that we are one step away from the final mattered a lot. But we played our natural game and remained calm as usual. I am still in a zone trying to convince myself that I have reached a Major final,” Chirag told this daily from Thailand.
Satwik was lost for words. His phone had not stopped buzzing. “It was quite emotional. I was just thinking of the sacrifices made by my parents. I really don’t know what to say,” said the 18-year-old.What makes their journey in the tournament more worthy is the fact that both were playing through pain. The two have been recovering from injuries for some time and even missed a few important tournaments at the start of the season. On Saturday, Satwik was uncomfortable with his shoulder and Chirag had a slight pain in his abs. But none of that stopped them. They also revealed that the injuries are minor.
At the beginning of the season, both of them had targeted a big semifinal or final appearance. But they did not expect it to happen so soon. “We had a decent run in the Japan Open. But we were just coming back to the circuit. The fact that it has happened within a short time is encouraging, especially with this being an Olympic qualifying year,” Satwik said.
The duo was going for short points during the semis, trying to avoid mistakes as much as possible. They stuck to short rallies to conserve energy and last the whole match. For Sunday’s final, there won’t be much significant tweaks in their game plan.
According to them, their ability to remain calm is the biggest asset. And both are planning to relax and get as much rest as possible before the final. However, both had their agendas set for the night. Satwik planned to feast himself with a biryani after laundry while Chirag will kick back with some funny movies. “There is no point getting tensed. We go on Sunday and give it our all,” Chirag said.