How do you celebrate when you go to a place nobody has been to before? If you are Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, you genuflect before P Gopichand and Mathias Boe, the two badminton coaches who were courtside when you win India’s maiden badminton gold in the history of Asian Games. If you are Chirag Shetty, you throw your T-shirt into the crowd before hugging both the coaches.
In terms of surety of a medal, only Neeraj Chopra had ranked higher. But, at the end of a thrilling two-week joy ride for Indian sports, Rankireddy and Shetty have made sure they go home with two pieces of history against their names.
Last Sunday, they had won a silver as part of the team event, a first for the men in badminton. At the Binjiang Gymnasium on Saturday, they easily dispatched Solgyu Choi and Wonho Kim 21-18, 21-16 in one hour to become the first from India to taste gold in this sport in Asian Games. None of Gopichand, Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu or Syed Modi had been able to break the duck. That in itself tells you what a monumental achievement this is. Those were the exact words used by Gopichand after the match, too. When the new BWF rankings drop next week, a further accolade awaits the two men who may well wish for 2023 to never end. World No 1.
So, how did they do it? When they joined hands years ago, they already had a reputation for being an ultra-aggressive pair. Similar in style. While this gave some results, teams could play through them since they weren’t an all-round duo. Once you’ve deciphered their weapons, elite teams knew how to get the job done. That’s why they had come to be known as giant-killers. These days, they are the giants. The rise was not instant. It took years of devotion. They had to adapt with each other more than with the court.
They are now the apex predators in a highly loaded field. It is also tempting to say the weight of this gold is heavier than most of the others that India have won, not just in China, but in the history of the Games. Gopichand put it in proper perspective.
“If you look at the competition, countries like Malaysia, South Korea, Japan and Indonesia field two teams here,” he said. “In all, there were nine nations that sent two teams whereas in the Olympics you have the top 13 nations and you may not have so many rounds of tough matches.”
In other words, they have won an event that typically is tougher to win than the Olympics. It has taken years of hard work, small incremental improvements, a willingness to utterly trust the support staff (in this case Boe) and developing an all-court game where both players are comfortable attacking or defending, playing in the backcourt or near the net.
Developing that sort of game has been the secret behind the success they have had in 2023. In June 2023, they had won the Indonesia Open, a BWF Super 1000 event. It sort of signalled their entry into big-time badminton. After that win, Rankireddy had mentioned that he had become more of a professional in preparing for tournaments. The pair had eschewed sleeping late and having the odd sweet. Their dedication to the craft was going to be total. Last month, just before the Asian Games, they had reiterated that during a conversation.
“I will probably play till 30-32,” the 23-year-old Rankireddy, who’s from Amalapuram, told this daily. “Will have all my life after that to party. So, why can’t I sleep at 10 pm instead of 11? It is only helping me.”
Shetty, 26, is more expressive while on court. While he likes his post-tournament-winning dance moves, the thing he loves most is just playing badminton. Give him a shuttle, a couple of racquets and he will become a kid in a candy store.
“I feel whenever I am on court, I feel alive; the best version of myself is when I have a racquet in hand and playing,” Shetty informed this daily last month. “If I don’t have that passion, that’s the last day I will play badminton. That is the most important thing, needing to have fun when you are on court and not think of it as a burden.”
Rankireddy and Shetty are two very different individuals. The latter, from Mumbai, is city-born and bred, while Rankireddy is from a quaint town in Andhra Pradesh. The two could hardly be called similar in taste. Shetty used to crave for home during his early days in the academy while his partner loved spending time with his Telugu friends. Together, though, their chemistry has been off the charts. At Hangzhou, they cooked up the perfect storm.