Mathias Boe is an extremely passionate and methodical coach, who has brought in discipline, rigour and layers of tactical awareness while taking Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty to World No.1.
The Olympic silver medallist from the last time the Games happened in Europe, also used to be an extremely competitive player, who battled the combined Asian might of skilled and speedy Chinese, Koreans, Malaysians and Indonesians as a defiant title contender from Europe.
His success didn’t always come from being nice and polite towards opponents, and there were a fair few forgettable furies on court. But perhaps the mercurial ways were only an extension of his deeply competitive, loss-abhorring mentality, that he needed to channel to find an edge against the rampaging doubles legends of the day.
The Dane’s game was cerebral, with canny shuttle placement and outthinking opponents, and he brings that nous to the power-packed Indians. Intuitive strategy is tough to teach, but Boe has worked hard to train his charges. Temperament wise, the court bearing of Satwik-Chirag, who look up to Indonesian Daddies Ahsan-Setiawan as their idols, is deeply respectful and relaxed. At times too relaxed, as Boe might point out. But they aren’t likely to get furious on court and raise hell, while still imbibing the competitive edge of their coach.
India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty are currently World No. 1 in men’s doubles. (Image – Federation Francaise de Badminton)
Crucially for the 43-year-old, in his playing years there were very many runners-up finishes besides his 30 odd Tour titles. When seen in hindsight, this points to how challenging it might’ve been for him and Carsten Mogensen back in the day. But one particular face-off really drove Boe up the wall. Their 0-6 head to head record against Korean legends Lee Yong-dae (LYD) and Yoo Yeon-Seong.
LYD ofcourse pre-dates the K-drama and K-pop global craze, but in badminton, he had all the populous Asian badminton powerhouses mesmerised, as the original Korean superstar. Even those who didn’t dig badminton knew LYD. His game was elegantly deceptive, and his boyband looks led to hysteria in Asian arenas.
More pertinently, he grew a wicked serve variation at some point – a slicing, undercut serve that wobbled and whizzed forth wondrously and brought him wins. It drew the almighty ire of Boe who reckoned it bordered on illegality offering unfair advantage, which escalated in 2014 into him launching into officials and general mayhem on court. On LYD’s wins, the world swooned, Boe seethed.
In a space of two years between 2013 and 2015, Boe-Mogensen lost 6 times to the Koreans. And at one point in this one-sided onslaught, even as the last two matches went to three sets and Boe got to grips with it, the modified Lee Yong-dae (LDY) serve stewed in Boe’s head.
The debate on whether it ought to have been banned like the Sidek-serve or hailed as a skill that didn’t break any rules, isn’t the subject of this story from a decade ago. Quite simply, the serve was unpredictable (hence employed, and badminton revers its deceptions) but not something opponents would not get used to, which is why certain spins get banned for their unreadable flight paths.
Most doubles pairings develop these skills and receivers get on with it. The flick serve even gets Gill Clark & Co whooping as a ‘gotcha’, and the badminton serve has long shed its reputation as a purely defensive and harmless start of a rally. But the pressing point this moment is, how Boe, who raged against a weapon that he clearly resented as player, might now as a mentor, guide Satwik-Chirag in coping with what’s coming at them.
Myriad serve varieties
The last few months have seen the Indians drop in their level, and Satwik has spoken of the variations of wide, tumble, spin (as long as strings hit the base of shuttle) and drive serves that the Koreans and Indonesians can occasionally use against them. The ‘drop’ in Indian levels is to be read as them losing finals or losing to World No.1 Chinese, so they are still operating at a very high level. But the myriad serve varieties and when mixed to maraud by the Koreans and Chinese especially, can prove to be a headache.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty are the current World No. 1 in men’s doubles. (Federation Francaise de Badminton)
Satwik-Chirag are ace athletes, and will invariably pick a few serving tricks of their own — and give it back in kind, with a smile on their face. But receiving the tumble serve — it cartwheels 2-3 times before reaching the net and then some more, will require them to spar against those that can mimic that wobbly path, and devise a safe (or slapping) return that doesn’t hamper them in the first four shots.
Both players are far too sincere and pickled in the art of picking new skills and will not be averse to taking this challenge headlong. But Boe who went 5-10 against the big hitters of the day, the smash record setting, Kien Keet Koo and Tan Boon Heong of Malaysia, will need to help Satwik-Chirag navigate this struggle against the LYD’s of now.
The Chinese believe they have the Indians under the pump with a 5-2 record now after the Thomas Cup. But honestly, past the devilish serves, Satwik-Chirag can gamely counter them and summon their big attack to trouble Liang-Wang. These serves can scramble the mind, but aren’t necessarily sinister.
Chirag’s own swivel serve and Satwik’s flick start, will receive top-ups too with more variety. And who knows Chirag will get the shuttle tumbling in serve himself, because why should Chinese and Koreans have all the fun?
The days ahead will need tweaks in receiving technique and it is especially tough for the two tall Indians since it comes at awkward crouching and hitting height. But Chirag literally learnt to bend when starting on the front court, and Satwik tempered his smash for the soft deceptive strokes, so there’s no resistance to learning new things here.
Boe and his magical big black book though, will have to flip many pages to find a way out. It might be the Dane’s redemption albeit as coach, after his playing misses against Lee Yong-dae.
