Satwik-Chirag in Indonesia Open final, HS Prannoy eliminated
Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy had started 2023 in brilliant fashion, winning the Swiss Open and the Badminton Asia Championships. They had carried forward the momentum they gained last year by winning the India Open, French Open, Thomas Cup, Commonwealth Games, and a World Championships bronze.
But the last couple of weeks have dented their admirable standing. Probably the most consistent of Indian shuttlers on the BWF World Tour, the world No.6 pairing suffered a second round exit at the Thailand Open, which was followed by an uncharacteristic first round exit at the Singapore Open last week.
This week the Thomas Cup champions have bounced back brilliantly to reach the final of their first Super 1000 tournament – the $1.25 million Indonesia Open – in Jakarta on Saturday.
Shetty and Rankireddy staged a stunning comeback victory in the men’s doubles semi-final to beat world No.12 Kang Min Hyuk and Seo Seung Jae of South Korea 17-21, 21-19, 21-18 in an hour and seven minutes at the loud and iconic Istora Senayan stadium. This was their third win in four meetings against the pair.
“As they say, your biggest victories come after your gravest losses. We were at our lowest of lows in Singapore. But we stood up from there and this week has been incredible. There’s still a match to go,” Shetty was quoted as saying by world body, BWF.
“We feel really good the way we played. We kept calm even though they made a comeback in the third game; we stuck in till the very end. I am happy we didn’t run away from our tactics and we could get that win.”
It was a contest between the Indian attack and Korean defence, but the Indians could not go all out in attack as the unseeded Koreans counter-attacked with a very strong defence. The Indians mixed up returns and once the shuttle became slow, they were not afraid to lift it, using the drift to win points. The Koreans are known for fast-paced, one-two flat exchanges, but the Commonwealth Games champions used their experience to counter them.
“We are used to playing like this. We know because similar situations have arisen in close encounters in the past. They don’t give up till the end, even if 10-20 down; that is the Korean style. But we were mentally prepared. We didn’t hurry. The idea was to put pressure on them,” said Rankireddy.
The BWF World Tour is divided into multiple levels: Super 1000, 750, 500, 300 and 100 with the bigger tournaments offering more prize money, and more importantly ranking points which are crucial for qualification for tournaments like Olympics or World Championships.
The Indian pair has won at least one competition at all other levels, but this is their first Super 1000 final. No Indian player has won a Super 1000 event with PV Sindhu (2019 Indonesia Open) and Lakshya Sen (2022 All England Open) coming closest, losing in the final. If Shetty and Rankireddy win, they will join Saina Nehwal (2009, 2010, 2012) and Kidambi Srikanth (2017) to have won the prestigious Indonesia Open.
It won’t be easy as they will be up against world champions Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik of Malaysia, who they have never beaten in eight meetings.
“It is a new day. We need to get back and recover our bodies from today's match first. For me personally, I didn't recover 100 % from yesterday. In the first game I wasn’t feeling comfortable as my body was tired. Then slowly in the second game I got my rhythm. To give our 100 %, we will get back, rest and recover,” said Rankireddy.
HS Prannoy wasn’t as lucky as he suffered a straight games loss in the men’s singles semi-final to reigning world and Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen. The world No.1 from Denmark, returning from a month-long layoff due to hamstring injury, showed no mercy in beating the world No.9 Indian 21-15, 21-15 in 46 minutes.
“I made a lot of errors in the lifts. Physically I was all right. It was just about finding the right length, trying to get to the lines, especially in this kind of drift. Viktor is consistent in finding the right length,” said Prannoy, who won the Malaysia Masters title last month. This was Prannoy’s sixth loss in eight meetings against the two-time defending champion.
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