CHENNAI: CEREBRAL in their approach, Satwikairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty are a rare breed in Indian badminton. Despite injury hurdles over the years, they are truly elite. On Saturday, they were at their very best as they outthought and outmuscled World No 1 pairing of Kim Won Ho and Seo Seung Jae in the semifinals of the Singapore Open.
Given what Kim and Seo have accomplished over the last year, the size of the victory cannot be underestimated. As the Indian pair would later reveal during the post-match interview, it was a plan executed to near-perfection. It was one of their best performances, at least in recent times.
After a slow start, the Indians, who had lost twice in as many meetings against the Koreans going into the contest, gradually found their rhythm before going on to wrap up the match in straight games (21-19, 21-18). They followed their plan to the T and now they are just one victory away from ending their two-year title drought. Their last win was the Thailand Open in May 2024.
"The way we played today (Saturday), even when we were down, we kept backing each other. We knew if we stuck together, eventually they'll crack at some point. If we stick to our plan, points eventually come. We had that belief and it worked well for us," Chirag said after the match.
Kim and Seo, while playing together, hadn't lost all season. In fact, their last defeat came way back in October (Denmark Open). All in all, they had captured a record-breaking 12 titles last year. Known for their watertight defence, they are fortresses. Satwik later revealed their tactics to bring down the fortress.
"The plan (second game) was to just keep pushing into the net, if they get lift, we'll see. I felt like they were not in a comfortable position to defend and they didn't want to lift too much. We just didn't want to leave the net (...). We were pretty much focussed on the net and the mid court and that helped in the second game," he said.
But things were not going as per plan in the opening game (13-8 at one stage, later the Indians were trailing 13-17).
"It's always a slow start for us. We need to adjust a little bit, we need to figure out where's the a/c, where's the lights and so on. It takes time. But we picked at the right time. We are happy, given where we are coming from. We played well in the Thailand Open and now this, back-to-back weeks. Getting into that rhythm, feels happy," Satwik said.
The win highlights their problem-solving skills, something that has been one of their traits that has helped them become pathbreakers over the years. "We had only played them twice and it had gone close. We knew if we have to beat them, we have to be steady because I think, by far, they have the strongest defence in the circuit and the normal rallies will be okay, we'll be better but when the rallies get longer, they are quite strong in their defence so we needed to be calm and steady, when we are attacking. In the second game, maybe, we were a little out of rhythm but all throughout the match, we were quite calm while attacking and that worked well for us," Chirag said.
Not so long ago, Satwik and Chirag had endured a rough patch and now they clearly seem to have regained their mojo. This will be their second straight final appearance on tour. "I think we're in the right direction. Improvement is an ongoing process. You'll never be perfect. There's always scope for improvement. We'll keep pushing ourselves, I think we're on the right track."
In Thailand last week, they just missed out on the title. With their hunger and zest to learn and keep pushing, they'll be determined to end up with a title come Sunday.
Indonesian pairing of Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Fikri stand between the Indians and the top prize.
