On Monday, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty realised one of their main goals when they clinched the men's doubles gold in Birmingham. The pair's road to recognition has been long and winding, and success has not come easy.
Exactly a year ago, after a forgettable campaign at the Tokyo Olympics, the duo was left without a coach as Mathias Boe stepped down due to contractual issues. Without a proper professional coach, their game suffered and they started losing to lower ranked opponents. Injuries too pegged them down.
It was at this juncture that Chirag invited Boe to Mumbai and Satwik joined them, deciding to train on their own. To add to the flux, their former coach Kim Tan Her also showed interest in coming back to India. However, Tan had some contractual issues with the Japanese federation and was not able to join.
Since Boe frequents Mumbai to visit his actress girlfriend Tapsee Pannu, Chirag asked him to work with them. Soon, the Badminton Association of India (BAI) and Sports Authority of India (SAI) hired Boe on a regular basis. The persistent efforts of Chirag and Satwik convinced them that Boe is the right man to guide them till the Olympic Games in Paris. The Danish former world No. 1 did not disappoint. He shaped the duo to win some crucial matches at the Thomas Cup and particularly the final against Indonesia.
Losing the mixed team gold in Birmingham was a big setback and Satwik-Chirag and Kidambi Srikanth were blamed for the loss. However, the pair overcame the shock loss a week back to triumph in the men's doubles final.
Satwik hails from Amalapuram in Andhra Pradesh and joined the Pullela Gopichand Academy in 2014. Chirag trains at the Uday Pawar Academy in Mumbai. Former national doubles coach Kim Tan Her paired them during his stint from 2015-19. Kim made them the world beaters and Indonesian Flandy Limpele, who was briefly with the Indian team, developed the physical aspect of their game.
The pair won 10 international challenge/series titles and five Super Series titles. Prominent among them were the French Open Super 750 title in 2019, India Open Super 500 in 2022 and Thailand Open Super 500 in 2019.
The Indians were one of the favourites to finish on the podium at the Tokyo Olympics last year. Though they exited early, their talent was never in doubt and they were the only team to beat eventual gold medallists Lee Yang and Wang Chi-Lin at Tokyo in the group stages. Between 2018 and 2020, they defeated almost all the top pairs including world No. 1 and Olympic champions. However, injuries before crucial tournaments robbed them of more titles. But they are one of the youngest doubles pairs in the world of badminton, with Satwik only 21 years of age and Chirag 25.
