CHENNAI: In their first assignment since the Paris Olympics, ace doubles duo of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy seems to be taking a fresh approach. The Indian duo is operating with a free mind at the moment and that seems to be paying dividends. On Friday, they recorded their third straight win in the ongoing China Masters, thereby ensuring a spot in the semifinals of the BWF Super 750 tournament.
Facing tricky opponents in the form of Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen, the second-seeded men’s doubles pair from Denmark, the Indian duo played with plenty of poise before carving out a straight-game victory (21-16, 21-19). They always seemed to be in control of the proceedings and despite their opponents displaying some fight in the second game, they maintained their composure to get over the line with relative ease.
The Indians are visibly happy with their run so far. “The last two matches, we got back our rhythm. The first game against the Chinese Taipei opponents was quite dicey, we didn’t quite get our rhythm. We lost 21-12, we didn’t know what was going on. Slowly and steadily, we started getting into the game and sort of started to get our rhythm. Today (Friday), we were quite at our level,” Chirag told BAI after their latest win.
Satwik agreed with his partner and revealed that working with former players, Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy, who has been there by the courtside with them, have been highly productive. “Very much (enjoying). It has been close to three months. There were so many downs after the Olympics for the both of us. Coach Boe (Mathias) also left us. To be honest, the way we were playing, I felt very comfortable. There’s no pressure whatsoever. The mindset is very clear, no matter what just go there and enjoy,” Satwik said.
Satwik and Chirag next face the South Korean pair of Jin Young and Seo Seung Jae. While the Indian doubles pair had a productive outing, it was a tough day for men’s singles ace Lakshya Sen, who was beaten by Anders Antonsen of Denmark. Antonsen outplayed the Indian to win the contest
21-18, 21-15.