Satwik-Chirag pair hopes to end season on a high
Hyderabad: Indian badminton men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who withdrew from the recently-concluded BWF World Tour Finals owing to a niggle to the former, hopes to finish the season on a high when they take the court for the final tournament of the season – BWF World Championships – in Huelva […]
Hyderabad: Indian badminton men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who withdrew from the recently-concluded BWF World Tour Finals owing to a niggle to the former, hopes to finish the season on a high when they take the court for the final tournament of the season – BWF World Championships – in Huelva in Spain starting from Sunday.
Satwik said that he returned to his fitness but needed to see how his body copes on the court. “I had a stress in my right knee during the World Tour Finals that forced us to withdraw. It’s been there since the Olympics. It is nothing major. But I needed rest. I am fully fit now. Confidence wise, we are in a good space.”
Speaking from Huelva, the 21-year-old said he didn’t set any targets but wanted to perform to his potential.
“We have played World Championships in 2017 and 2018. But missed the 2019 edition in Switzerland with an injury. We are feeling confident. We played semifinals as well in the Indonesian Open Super 1000 event. I don’t have any goal but want to give my best and see how it goes. We don’t want to repeat mistakes from the previous tournaments. The draw is also tough. We are hoping for positive results,” he added.
Meanwhile, Chirag said playing back-to-back tournaments in a short span of time will take a toll on the body. “We want to end the season on a high with a good show here. We have been playing for the last two months. It is tough playing back-to-back tournaments. They could have scheduled it a bit better. All these tournaments are big events which we can’t skip. Six tournaments in two months is hectic,” he rued. On the World Championships, Chirag, the 24-year-old from Mumbai added, “We will take each round as it comes. We want to play good game.”
However, the duo has been without a coach since the Olympics. They trained with Mathias Boe for the Olympics but he departed after the Games.
“It’s been very tough to train without a dedicated doubles coach. We have been asking for a coach since long and hopefully we will get one by January. We had a good stint with Boe. He was a top-class coach. We learnt a lot from him. He used to take care of not just on-court training but off-court training as well,” said Satwik.
Tan Kim Her, the Malaysian doubles coach who forged the partnership of this duo, is likely to return as the doubles coach and both Satwik and Chirag are delighted with the prospect.
“He was the one who helped us reach where we are today. He motivated us both on and off the court. If he returns as doubles coach, it will be a big boost,” said the Amalapuram lad.
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