Chirag Shetty has had a tough few months, dealing with injuries and alongwith the bereaved Satwiksairaj Rankireddy who lost his father, the duo are going through perhaps the toughest phase of their careers. But returning to action at the Singapore Open Super 750, Shetty made up for many days spent away from the high of competitive action, as the Indian aces defeated Malaysian Choong Hon Jian and Haikal Muhammad 21-16, 21-13 on their return. Shetty who had gone through a torrid time recovering from back issues, looked sharp alongside Satwik, and even packed in two moments of magic during the Round 1 opener. In a video that has since become viral, Shetty is seeing on the left side during a parallel defense, and in a neat sumo squat, with sharp low returns. He sends a side swat on his right and picks the next one as a tweener, frim inches off the ground with minimal movement of his eyes and stance. Shetty later told the Indian Express there were two of the tweeners on the day and nailing them was a boost to his confidence. "I don't think anybody actually practices a tweener. But I got two in the match and both resulted in a point so I'm really happy that it worked out well," he said. It was the 15th shot of the intense rally where the Indians looked focussed and the Malaysians reckoned tgey had theyr man but Shetty pulled off an absolute trick. He quipped that he hadn't ever reallypracticed it, but saw it as a good sign. "It's a reflex but it definitely gives you a boost when you get such a point. Normally you would expect to lose such a point but if you get it then it's definitely a boon and even for the opponent it's a deterrent. So it really works well if it actually goes," he said. On the duo's comeback, Shetty said it was a buzzy feeling and the crowd welcomed them warmly in Singapore where they are quite popular. "The return to competition feels really good. With the crowd and here in Singapore it feels great. We are really looking forward to the next round.The past few months have been tough but I'm happy to be back," he said. Their rankings have slid to out of Top 25, but the duo is confident they will be back amongst the best in no time. On Thursday, the top Indians play World No 8 from Indonesia. The Indian pair will need to battle Indonesian World No 8 pair Sabar Gutama and Moh Reza Isfahani (29/26), in what can be a tricky second round. Having dropped to World No 27, the Indians have a lot of catching up to do but are under no pressure and will prioritise staying fit and healthy first. The Indonesians operating at a bruising pace, were barely in Top 30 same time last year, but have gone as high as No 7 this month. They are second amongst 3 Indonesian pairs in Top 10. They created a stir at the All England getting rid of Chinese Liang-Wang and drubbing another Chinese pair of Hyang-Liu next round. They were a handful against Chinese He-Ren at the World Tour Finals last year, and topped Aaron-Soh in the flat game too.
