New Delhi: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty’s fight fizzled out in the quarter-finals as they went down tamely to Chinese third seeds Chang Wang and Liang Wei Keng 21-18, 21-9 at the BWF World Championships here.
Taking the court after India secured an unexpected medal from the women’s doubles combination of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, the home crowd filled the stands hoping to see Satwik and Chirag conjure up similar magic. They were left disappointed.
Midway through the second game, the crowd that was vociferously cheering for the home team lost its voice. The sinking feeling was also visible in the body language of the two players in the middle. Errors flowed from their racquets, and there were no signs of a dramatic late comeback. It was China all the way in the second game.
Deep Dive
What were the key factors in Satwik and Chirag's loss to the Chinese pair?
Why was there high expectation for Satwik and Chirag in the World Championships?
How did Treesa and Gayatri manage to secure a medal at the World Championships?
In their head-to-head meetings, Chang and Liang have a 9-4 advantage over the Indians, but Satwik and Chirag beat them at the World Championships last year at the same stage, and their Thomas Cup match this year went down to the wire. There was no such thrill, though, at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium here.
Expectations were high for Satwik and Chirag because they have given some terrific performances in a highly-competitive men’s doubles circuit. It includes two bronze medals at the World Championships.
{{/usCountry}}Expectations were high for Satwik and Chirag because they have given some terrific performances in a highly-competitive men’s doubles circuit. It includes two bronze medals at the World Championships.
{{/usCountry}}However, recently they have been struggling with form and fitness. A shoulder injury had hampered Satwik for a while. They won the Singapore Open in the last week of May, ending a two-year title drought, which should have put them on course for greater things this season.
But Satwik’s shoulder injury forced them into first-round retirements in Japan and Indonesia. Over the last week, they focused on rehab and shouldered India’s challenge at home in the World Championships. Before the event, they spoke about regaining complete fitness but also stressed that match situations would be the real test.
They got a bye in the first round and a walkover in the second before scrambling to beat the Malaysian pair of Arif Junaidi and Yap Roy King in three tough games.
As a format, men’s doubles moves at a frenetic pace; the rallies are fast and punish the body. The Indian pair didn’t look in their best physical shape to take the fight to the top Chinese pair.
When it came to the smashes, Chirag took on the bulk of the responsibility. Satwik’s famous full-blown jump smashes were missing, not that the Chinese gave them too many opportunities. Chang and Liang kept playing a fast-paced flat game. The Indians, too, were caught in China’s tactics and didn’t really try to slow things down or push the shuttle behind.
“I got good six weeks of rehab and strengthening and I am feeling pretty much good. I was worried how my shoulder will respond after we played for more than 80 minutes yesterday. It’s less than 24 hours and we are playing again. So, it’s difficult to recover and play again. But today, I felt pretty much okay,” Satwik responded when asked about his shoulder issue.
The quarter-final lasted just 36 minutes.
Liang and Wang started aggressively, taking a 4-1 lead, but India came back well. With the crowd behind them, the Chinese were also making errors. India were catching up and at 18-18, it was moving towards a fast finish. Chirag’s unforced errors proved costly as China took the first game. In the second game, they just cruised past Satwik and Chirag.
With the Asian Games a month away, the Indian pair’s fitness will continue to be under scrutiny but for now, they have something to build on.