When Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy became the first Indian doubles pair to win the Singapore Open on Sunday, not only did they end the drought of titles but also raised hopes for the forthcoming Asian Games and the next Olympics.
“Yeah, it feels really, really special. The last week has been really, really good. It’s been almost two years since we had won a title,” Chirag said during a virtual media interaction on Monday.
The victory also coincided with the return of their former coach Mathias Boe as a consultant alongside long-time mentor Tan Kim Her.
Chirag said Boe has been assisting remotely with pre-match analysis. “Both Satwik and I sit together with our coach before matches and see what works and what doesn’t,” he said. “It’s like brainstorming and we discuss what areas we need to attack and what the game plan should be.”
Satwik described the transition as seamless, saying Tan and Boe shared similar philosophies. “It’s almost 95 per cent similar practice sessions or game ideas,” he said.
The duo were of the view that for any sportsperson, the Olympics are always of importance and they have set their own goals.
Chirag said: “We are not here to prove any point to anybody. Like Satvik said before, we are very driven. We don’t need other people to tell us what we need to achieve because we are very critical about ourselves.
“We want to win in every single tournament and every major event there is. And yes, for all athletes, Olympics is the ultimate goal and its the same for us. But it’s still two years away (2028, Los Angeles).
“We keep pushing ourselves. We have the World Championships and the Asian Games this year. And right now, our focus is on that. But in the long run, LA-28 is definitely the ultimate goal.”
Asked whether the victory on Sunday was a major boost, Chirag said: “Since this title came after a long time, it was indeed special and will give us impetus for the future.”
Asked how they overcome injury setbacks like the ones they faced in the past year, Satwik said: “It’s part and parcel of the game.
“I mean, it’s not like nobody will have injuries. You should respect your body. You need to brush off setbacks and then focus. Give your 100 per cent at the bigger tournaments at the right time, peak at the right time. Just manage your body.”
Chirag added: “You can’t completely avoid injuries, but you can manage them. It’s part of the sport. You sign up for it. It’s just how you handle it and how you avoid it as much as possible and navigate your way through it.”
Chirag didn’t agree that the duo had been inconsistent in their performance in the recent past. “I wouldn’t call it inconsistency. On the contrary, we were quite consistent. To call the No.3 team in the world inconsistent is not right...
“Some days, we may not have played to our best, but we had that belief that we would eventually get the result we want. It’s not that we’ve never won a title before,” he added.