It's Satwik-Chirag world, we are just living in it: First Indian pair to win Super 1000 title

After they became the first Indian shuttlers in 58 years to be crowned Asian champions last month, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, the Indian duo became the first Indian pair to win Super 1000 title.

 

Satwik-Chirag beat the Malaysian duo 21-17, 21-18 in 43 minutes to win the $1.25 million Indonesia Open at the iconic and loud Istora Senayan arena in Jakarta.

  

 

In eight previous meetings the top Indian doubles duo had never been able to beat the world champions. They came close four times when they took the Malaysians but each time Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik had the upper hand in beating Rankireddy and Shetty.

 

 

Having experienced their “lowest low” in crashing out of the first round of last week’s Singapore Open, Rankireddy and Shetty couldn’t have executed a more stunning turnaround, winning their first Super 1000 title, an unprecedented achievement for Indian doubles.

 

The reluctance to throw it all in against Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik had held them back in previous meetings, but today there was no hesitation. Neither in the fast and quick exchanges in the opening game, nor in challenging the world champions to break through their defence in the second, was there any trace of self-doubt.

 

The Indians played with assurance and conviction.

 

“We played with a lot of conviction, we stuck to the gameplan,” said Shetty. “In the earlier eight matches against them, we’d held ourselves back. But we stuck with the plan and we knew they are humans, eventually they will make mistakes. So till the end we didn’t give them a chance. We didn’t need to hold ourselves back and play safe, which sort of becomes slow and they are good at capitalising on that, so we just went with the plan. We really needed this win.”

 

The Indians had promised to do a jig on court if they won, but it was a relatively toned-down celebration. They were uncharacteristically sombre, exuding a deep sense of satisfaction.

 

“It’s a happy performance after a bad month,” said Rankireddy. “We’d become lazy, I’d say passive, we thought it’s under control. But it wasn’t under control. It was a wake-up call for us, the last two tournaments – to be alert, or be smashed in the first round itself. More than winning the tournament, beating them – you don’t get it often. When we play next time we’ll go all-in like this, so it’s a confidence boost going ahead.

 

“Winning Indonesia was a dream; a lot of legends have played here. At the beginning the aim was to get an entry to play here. From there to winning this tournament has been a long journey, and I love the way we played today.”

 

 

By virtue of their third title of the year – they also won the Swiss Open and Badminton Asia Championships – the Commonwealth Games champions became the first Indians to win a Super 1000 title since the BWF World Tour started in 2018 in place of the Superseries system. The Indonesia Open was Rankireddy and Shetty’s sixth title on the Tour. They have now become the first Indians and the only men’s doubles pair globally to win at all BWF World Tour levels, from Super 100 to 1000 - Super 1000 (2023 Indonesia Open), Super 750 (2019 French Open), Super 500 (2022 India Open), Super 300 (2023 Swiss Open), and Super 100 (2018 Hyderabad Open).

 

In addition to this, the Indian duo's already impressive resume includes a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games, a gold medal at the Thomas Cup, a bronze medal at the World Championships, and a bronze medal at the Asian Games.

 

The only medal that is missing from their Trophy cabinet is - Olympic Medal.

 

The World No. 6 pair that won the Badminton Asia Championship gold medal earlier this year was going through a lean patch, losing in the first round of the Singapore Open and bowing out in the second round of the Thailand Open after their ordinary outings in the Sudirman Cup. However, they have bounced back strong with a sensational victory at the Istora, beating their nemesis Aaron Chia and Soh Wooh Yik for the first time in 9 meetings on the tour.