The trick to winning comfortably ultimately might be to never get too comfortable, for Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty.
So in what was destined to be a stroll in the park at the Thailand Open Super 500 final, the Indians managed to get themselves in a few tangles against the 4th best Chinese pairing of Chen Bo Yang and Liu Yi, ranked World No 29. But at the stroke of the 15th point, they’d had enough of the mock drill, and quickly raced to a 21-15, 21-15 title victory in 46 minutes.
But Shetty, the meticulous mental jotter of all low-key vicissitudes, would bring up that early shake-up they were forced into. In the opening set, Satwik-Chirag went from 5-1 up to 7-10 down. “At one point we led 5-1 but then we went down 7-10. It was a wake-up call that we needed to get back. They fought but they were not able to come back. We were always leading,” he would say.
BOYS HAVE DONE IT AGAIN 😎
2️⃣nd #ThailandOpen, 4️⃣th Super 500 & 8️⃣th #BWFWorldTour title for SatChi 👌🔥
Proud of you champs!
📸: @badmintonphoto@himantabiswa | @sanjay091968 | @Arunlakhanioffi #ThailandOpen2024#IndiaontheRise#Badminton pic.twitter.com/KsvyyR4LmO
— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) May 19, 2024
For a large part of their careers and ahead of every big title they’ve won, Satwik-Chirag have needed these wake-up trings to get their act together. The Chinese flatter game on the day where they struck good, deep lengths to midcourt, were micro-triggers, though it was never in doubt that the Indians would saunter past to their second Thailand title, the site of their first major tournament victory five years ago. But the jolt was necessary to keep them on their toes.
There’s a film dating back to before this duo were born, a full-length movie of brilliant buffoonery before memes got mainstreamed and humour was sold short as clips, called Andaaz Apna Apna. It had ‘Tilu ko roz subeh dande dene hai’ (Tilu must be caned daily), a reference to daily dosage of striking one of the lead characters on his head at regular intervals, so he would regain lost memory.
Satwik-Chirag haven’t forgotten winning since they first picked that breakthrough title in Bangkok in 2019. But they tend to often need the rug to be slightly tugged from under their feet, so they don’t forget to get cracking on court. Sometimes, tournament final losses are a punch to the gut before they collect themselves. At other times, little-known Chinese steal a micro-lead at start of a game to get them to be alert. The Tilu-treatment tends to work.
The upcoming Chinese are uncharacteristically sluggish, in that they’ve gone from World No 42 to World No 23 in this last year of dawdling on the circuit, and not stepped up. But they have one wicked weapon – their control over the low, flat game as Chen and Liu conjured fast exchanges with pushes that travelled quickly to midcourt. It often caught Shetty awkwardly in the ribs, testing his forehand defense as he had to squat low.
The Chinese also seemed to be aping Shetty’s swivel serve and Satwik’s lobs to the back, and resembled potential sparring simulators of the Indian game, for the top Chinese pair of Liang-Wang ahead of Paris. But there was little in their attack to truly trouble the Indians.
Still, Satwik tried a few disguised serves, and beautifully cut pace on his midcourt shots, leaving the Chinese short on reach as the shuttle dipped. When needed both Indians pulled out the big smashes, burying them middle of the court, but it was one of those finals where they were barely tested.
Chirag sent returns long a few times and promptly checked his aggression in the next rally to restore leads. And he was largely responsible for the smooth gear-switch from Point 15 onwards to race to the finish. He didn’t need to be at his best, so he wasn’t. But the Indians always looked in control.
“Good match. I knew they would keep on playing fast, fast. If we relax they will keep on fighting till the last point. But it was the best match of the tournament (for us). We kept everything calm, under control,” Satwik would tell BWF.
The regular title celebrating headlines will keep them chuffed. But Shetty admitted they wouldn’t be lulled into complacency on this home stretch before Paris. “Not just us. All athletes want to go out there and get that trophy (Olympic medal),” he told the media later.
The Chinese fourth string was the toughest match they faced this week, and the Indians managed to make it look clinical and simple, not going into a decider the whole week and not crossing the 40-minute mark till the final. But with none of the top pairings standing in their way, this might be the easiest title Satwik-Chirag won.
A tiny wrangling over the early lead though, was a timely reminder of past reverses, and mid-match melts, in a year where they made four finals but didn’t quite win a Super 1000 title. In the next ranking update, and with none of the top pairings playing this last week, they will reclaim the world No 1 ranking, reestablishing themselves as the best currently in a wildly fluctuating men’s doubles field. But it is important that the wake-up calls won’t be going away anytime soon.
