GUWAHATI: Bhargav Ram Arigela and Viswa Tej Gobburu's stocks have been briskly rising in the last two weeks or so. After their exploits during the mixed team event of the BWF World Junior Championships at the National Centre of Excellence here, a renowned centre where they call home, the Indian men's doubles pairing, who's touted to be one of the next exciting talents after Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, have been reproducing their magic in the individual competitions of the highly-coveted event.
On Thursday, their wills were tested to a T in front of a decent crowd that had turned up to watch the host shuttlers in action.
In what was a riveting contest, the boys from Andhra Pradesh produced numerous moments of high-quality play to delight the supporters. Facing Yi Hsuan Chen and Chun-Yen Chu of Chinese Taipei, the Indian pair, just like Satwik and Chirag, displayed tenacity to pull off a fighting victory. With the stakes high, the match, as it wore on, was an emotionally-charged affair. Both sets of pairs were quite vocal while celebrating each point.
After a punishing 42-minute contest that saw some thrills and spills from both sides, it was the Indians, after conceding Game 1, who managed to apply the finishing touch, with the score reading 13-15, 15-9, 15-13 in the host shuttlers' favour. They had expended all their energy. So much so that they were forced to take a moment before the post-match press duties.
Having come out on the winning side, that didn't matter as they were visibly over the moon. "It was a great match. Our opponents were quite strong. We had anticipated a good match. We were down after the opening game. The crowd turnout was also good. We were confident after the first game, the coach was also delighted," Viswa, who wowed the crowd with mind-bending attempted returns, said.
Ever since Viswa and Bhargav joined forces (five years ago), they have been ticking the right boxes in their development. And their promise was there to see when they reached the pinnacle of the world junior boys ranking not so long ago.
While Bhargav is from Guntur, Viswa, who sports a headband like Chirag, hails from Kadapa. After training in a local academy in his hometown, Bhargav went to Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh (SAAP), Nellore before moving to SAI, Bhubaneswar, a place where he moved from singles to doubles. From there on, he shifted to NCE. He has been going from strength-to-strength since then.
They have already bettered their last year's performance and are now just a win away from a medal. Bhargav said that with experience, they have attained a better understanding of the game.
"We were not as powerful as we are now, and we were also not as fast as we are right now. Also, we had less experience. Now, we understand the game better, how to adapt, how to use that speed."
One person who has had a big hand in the pair's development is NCE foreign head coach Ivan Sozonov. Given what had just transpired, Sozonov was clearly concerned about his wards' physical well-being as they were in celebratory mood, fully basking in the moment. When asked about their development, Sozonov was mostly pleased with their bravery, their willingness to adapt and find solutions during testing periods of play.
"They have improved a great deal. Bhargav has improved a lot, he's a highly talented player. He has some special things, his speed is impressive. Viswa is also one of the best students. He listens, he fights... Both today (Thursday) and yesterday (Wednesday), he had his moments of struggles with his mistakes but he finds that kind of spirit (fighting), the hard work he showed today (Thursday) because he adjusted himself a little bit. That is very important.
"In this game, players know how to play. Sometimes you make mistakes, sometimes you play passively but the last two days, they have been very brave and they have taken responsibility."
When quizzed about their admiration for SatChi, Sozonov said they should look to pick ideas from all the top operators in the world. "Of course they like SatChi. I'm sure all Indians like their country's best doubles pair. But they also must understand style differences. They must learn some things from them. Satiwik, for instance, works from the back court, Viswa must learn from him. Chirag covers the net, it is an example for Bharghav. If you have that kind of habit to learn from the best, it's great. Not only them, there are around 20 players in the world who're excellent. They can grab something special from everyone."
Unnati survives scare, Tanvi cruises
Unnati Hooda was at sea at the start of her Round of 16 clash versus Carine Tee of Malaysia. The Malaysian, with her deceptive flicks and tricks, was dictating the rhythm of the play and had the Indian was forced to chase the shuttle all over the court. Trailing 3-9, Unnati dug deep into her resources before going on to turn the tables. Despite a disastrous start, Unnati seemed to have found her opponent's weakness as she kept attacking the pocket of space on the forehand side of her opponent's net. Every time she tested her with a shot in that region, Unnati found joy. She continued the drill and eventually walked away with a 15-10, 15-7 victory to enter the quarterfinals.
Tanvi Sharma, the No 1 seed, had a cruise against her Chinese opponent on the day. They are now just one hit away from ending India's medal drought in the women's singles category.
