Feigning a sulk, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy had extracted a promise out of their coach, Malaysian Tan Kim Her, before he and Chirag Shetty won the World Championship bronze. He had demanded to know when the 53-year-old would pen a social media post for the Indian duo. “I asked him why he doesn't post about us, like he used to about the Japanese pair (Hoki-Kobayashi) he trained before us. Once on the podium, I told him 'Keep a caption ready now,'” he recalls. Like Arnie's Terminator, Satwik-Chirag were back. It's been a good month for Satwik-Chirag, when they have literally learnt to smile and joke once more. For coach Tan, it's a release of pressure, with a Worlds medal and two World Tour finals in Hong Kong and China. For the duo, it's the Sunday Finals routine resurrected. “Earlier, we used to win so much that it was assumed Satwik-Chirag would definitely win. People were so confident,” Satwik recalls of their 13 titles. “Even my closest friends couldn't digest us losing, and kept asking, 'Where's the trophy?' It was to motivate us to get out of the bad time.” The bad times distilled into empty Sundays, one of the worst feelings for an athlete who has been a compulsive winner but suffers a setback that sees him exiting before finals day. “Abhi Sunday rest day hai na?” (Sunday equals rest) was the doldrums they had been stuck in. “Sunday became a day to pack bags and catch a flight because we had lost early,” he explained. Memories of Sunday finals, central courts and arclights had been fading as they kept up the pretence of turning up at eight tournaments, clinging to rankings, while battling pain and injury. “Once we went past the semis, and cracked that, we knew.” he says, completing a fruitful swing. For Chirag, the buzz of packed stadia, is the spark plug. “We hadn't been able to stand on the podium for so long. But a personal satisfaction is we are back to beating the best pairs.” A title is still awaited, but he reckons their game is on the upswing. “I wouldn't change a thing, we are playing really good badminton.” It was most apparent against Malaysians Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, their most prolific rivals, having faced off 16 times. Two of the Indian pair's five wins came over the last month - at Worlds and China Masters. “Tactically we are playing what we should,” Chirag says. “They are always tricky but in the last two matches, we countered their flat exchanges and service positions.” Flexible strategy Against the Chinese (Liang-Wang) and Malaysians, the Indians have changed their mindset entirely. Everyone's playing faster and smarter, Satwik says, and the Indians avoided getting sucked into the pothole of pace and parallel shuttles. “We figured we can't play the same game all the time, so we mixed block, drive, lift to not get into the trap. We keep changing things. The drive game meant it was 50-50 always but we were constantly being made to bend and play. Now we know when to play smart,” Satwik said. Chirag has been diving around and getting a few sensational behind-the-back returns. The Mumbaikar says it's no big deal really. “I'll say desperate situations call for desperate measures. I dive or play behind-the-back because there's no other option. It's not planned. There's a high possibility of a mistake, but it's commendable when it crosses over to the other side,” he says drolly. Koreans with Seo Seung-jae are right up there, the Indians admit. “They can play a quality game in all three games, from start to end,” Satwik says of Seo-Kim Won-ho. But it's not some dreaded spectre. “They're quite consistent but I won't say they are unbeatable,” Chirag stresses. When riding the confidence wave, all things can seem like falling into place. “When confident, whatever you play or swing a racquet at goes. Taking nothing away from them for they work very hard, but we were unlucky with some net-chords. Even after 14-7, we didn't give away easy points.” he refuses to concede. The most visible switch in the past month is Satwik playing with more assurance at the front court. “I've been working on it, and learning from Chirag and others on how they handle those 18-19 situations. It's a matter of time. When confident, you look like Seo (Seung-jae), hitting all over the court. When confident, there's no back court, front court,” he chuckles.
