NEW DELHI: The crowd went into a frenzy as Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty did their trademark celebrations here at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall. The Indian doubles duo had saved the best for last.
High after a big win on Saturday, Satwik could be seen shaking his leg, delighting the vociferous crowd, who had patiently stayed behind to watch them weave the magic with their racquets. The immediate post-match drill could feature in one of their celebration compilations. The occasion was fitting indeed.
The Indian duo had just made a tough match look easy with their attacking display. The World No 2 pair, who has made the habit of winning over the years, had just beaten the Malaysian duo of Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik 21-18, 21-14 in the semifinals of the ongoing India Open.
Aaron and Soh Wooi had entered the contest with quite a reputation and on paper, it had seemed like the meeting could be an epic contest. And it was epic for large parts of the opening game with both sides not letting their rivals take control of the proceedings. Chirag was lightning quick in front of the net and gained points on multiple occasions. In the second essay, the Malaysians had their noses in front in the early stages before Aaron accidentally got hit in the eye by the shuttle (Chirag had made a sharp return from the net). From thereon, it was one-way traffic as the Indians signed off in style.
"It was a good win. Going into the match, we knew it's going to be a tough game because we have always had close ties against them. Likewise, it was quite close this time as well in the first game until the end. It was anybody's game and I thought we could have been a little bit calmer. But luckily, we managed to retain her nerves," Chirag told reporters during the post-match interaction.
Chirag was also quick to thank the crowd for bringing the much-needed energy. "The crowd support has been tremendous. Staying until late in the night, that requires strong motivation. When we are out there on the court and there are so many people cheering for us, it feels really really special and I hope to see many people tomorrow (Sunday) as well."
This win is also a marker on how far the Indian doubles pair have come. Until recently, the Malaysian pair had proven to be a real mystery and had a 8-0 head-to-head advantage over the Indians. But the Indians, who have shown that quality to find solutions with experience, have now won their last three meetings against the Malaysian pair. Satwik's mental make-up can be gleaned from his take on this rivalry.
"When we played last few times, people used to say '7-0, 8-0, you have never won', but I used to tell them 'it's okay'. We might lose 10 times, 100 times, but we'll at least win one time.' That has always been our motto and once we got over the line, then I knew we won't have any fear anymore. It took us a while to cross that line. All those wins have come when it has really mattered (Indonesia Open, Asian Games and today (Saturday)."
Having missed out on the final hurdle in last week's Malaysia Open, Satwik and Chirag will be hoping to go one step further this time. They'll be up against Kang Min Hyuk and Seo Seung Jae of Korea in the summit match on Sunday.