It happened towards the end of Game 2 of the semifinal at the Singapore Open when the Malaysian duo of Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik had built up a good head of steam after dropping the opener. In one of the many mini-skirmishes for supremacy at the net against Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty. As the shuttle cleared the top of the tape and drew the Indians forward, Satwik was closer to it on the left side but Chirag, who is nominally in charge of the frontcourt, also made his move across from the other side. It must have caught the peripheral vision of Satwik, who stopped himself, but Chirag too wasn’t fully committed, and they both ended up missing it.
A former Indian doubles international once said what makes Satwik-Chirag so special is that you’ll barely ever see them upset with each other on court during a match. Here as well, it wasn’t a display of frustration, but they exchanged glances that could be captioned, ‘how did we let that happen?’ It illustrated the rustiness in the Indians’ gameplay as Chia-Soh won 19-21, 21-10, 21-18 in 64 minutes to reach the final. Just like that heartbreaking day in Paris last year at the Olympics, the Malaysians came from a game down to beat Satwik-Chirag.
The lead-up to this tournament couldn’t have been more contrasting for the two pairs. Satwik-Chirag had been out of action since the All England in March where they had to retire mid-way from the second round due to the latter’s back niggle. Chia-Soh, on the other hand, had won the Asian Championships in April, then made the finals at Thailand Open and Malaysia Masters in the last fortnight (winning in Bangkok).
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Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty are discussing with each other. (BWF / BadmintonPhoto)
“We take a lot of positives. To come this far with the number of days we’ve trained and the weeks, months we’ve had both professionally and personally, to get back here and to play a semifinal, we never really expected,” Chirag told BWF later. He had said on Friday that they had trained for just 10 days in the last two months. “When I look back at what we have faced over the past couple of months, it’s a really good start.”
The match started off in expected men’s doubles fashion, with barely any developed rallies and a lot of the points getting decided at the net in the service-return-third shot exchanges. A five-point run on either side of the interval gave SatChi a cushion to hold on to, despite a late fightback from Chia-Soh.
If Satwik and Chirag are both masterful at raining down smashes whenever they get the height to work with, Chia and Soh are blessed with the ability to change angles at full speed even when defending on flatter exchanges. They started Game 2 on a flurry of points and it signalled a change in momentum as well as tactics; they’d simply not allow SatChi to dictate with their height advantage. The near side also saw the Indians struggle with judging the length on both attack and defence, and the scoreline of 10-21 didn’t augur well for what was to come in the decider when they wouldd have to finish from the same side.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty in action. (BWF / BadmintonPhoto)
To their credit, the Indians dug deep from a near-impossible position as the Malaysians stiffened up from 20-11. Not one, not two, seven match points were saved by a combination of Malaysian nerves and SatChi’s steadier radar, but it was too big a gap to bridge.
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The defeat meant that Satwik-Chirag have three semifinal appearances in three BWF World Tour events they have played this year, barring the All England pull-out. Given the context of their troubles, it is a solid return. But reflecting on now being world No 27, Satwik quipped after the match: “We didn’t like that number 27. But it’s because of the break we had.” The best is yet to come, he added. “Really, hats off to Chirag. Last month wasn’t easy. I know he’s having pain now also, but he’s still not telling me,” he smiled.
Next week is the big one. Satwik-Chirag will head off to the Indonesia Open, a Super 1000 that is the site of one of their best ever titles in 2023, one they clinched beating Chia-Soh in the final. And as luck would have it, a rematch is on the cards as early as the second round.
