Satwik-Chirag make history, first Indians to become Asian champs in 58 years

The hard-fought 16-21, 21-17, 21-19 victory was achieved when Satwik’s round-the-head shot crashed into Teo’s body. But it took some doing against the Malaysians, who played out an excellent defensive game, but were finally blitzed by the Indian attack. Down 6-11 in the second gane having lost the first, Satwik and Chirag showed some serious fighting spirit to first level the match and then come from 11-15 behind in the decider to prevail in the final.

The duo is yet to lose a tournament final since the Syed Modi International a few years ago, and have displayed an impressive finishing temperament, guided by Mathias Boe.

Ong and Teo relied mostly on fast-paced parallel exchanges and loopy crosses, denying the tall Indians any elevation to smash in the opening game. It was the cross-angles that caught the Indians off guard, and they were constantly peppered with shuttles across the body, forced to take evasive action, and denied lifts to smash. Ong was particularly troublesome prancing on the forecourt, working up angles for their loopy attack. At 16-20, the Malaysians had to scramble in defence, dive for the retrieves, but still managed to get the point and pocket the opener.

Satwik had said before the match that this was going to be a face-off between the best attacking pair and the best defensive one, and the Malaysians had some pristine shots to show for it, including a point won at 5-7 in the decider, while seated on the floor. Yet their dependable defence would be tested by the Indians soon enough, as Chirag started pushing the shuttle back and breaking Ong’s forecourt rhythm.

From 6-11 to 8-13, the Indians would slowly start the climb back in the second, opening up the back court. Chirag was the fulcrum of this attack, and would start drawing out errors from Teo both off his serve and with cross racquet strokes from around the net to level at 14-all. The Indians are especially lethal when they accelerate around the 17-point mark, and the aggressive attack yielded returns, as they forced a decider, winning the second 21-17 with Chirag hitting a steep downward shot.

Showing resilience

The decider had tingling speed added to it in the rallies, and once again the Indians would fall behind 11-15, as the Malaysian defensive unit picked some steeply-hit shuttles and parried the body attack. But twice Teo erred into the net to make it 15-all, and the Indians refused to look back thereafter.

The trick was in forcing the Malaysians to lift and denying them the parallel angular game in which they were so comfortable. Once the Indians got the elevation to hit, they surged to 18-16 in the decider. A smart return of serve panned out at 19-17 from Chirag, who showed no finishing nerves on the day. ‘Just one winning stroke needed’, Boe would tell the Indians when they were trailing, and the Indians would respond to the tactics, keeping their nerve. A big smash followed at 20-17 from Chirag, and in a melee of strokes the point after, Satwik would hit it round the head onto Teo to secure a historic win.

After the match, Shetty said, “I am over the moon after winning the Badminton Asia Championships title. I and Satwik worked really hard for this medal and I am happy that we have finally won the title. Also, I would like to thank everyone back home for supporting me.”

“I am grateful for all the support we have got during the Badminton Asia Championships. It’s a great feeling to win this tournament for the first time and I am sure we will win more such titles in the future. We will continue to work hard to bring laurels to the country,” said Rankireddy.

The win will take the Indians to a world ranking of No. 5. But it is their finishing finesse in Big finals that needs to be noted. Satwik-Chirag were on a roll this week, including a comfortable win over the Daddies, Ahsan-Setiawan. Before a retirement from the Olympic champions, they had won the opening game showing the same ability to up the attacking ante just so slightly while approaching 21. It’s become a feature of their game, and helped them win against most Top Ten pairings.

While Satwik has always been a cool cat, the BAC showed Chirag coming into his own, and attacking freely without the endgame jitters that used to tie him in knots. The defensive Ong-Teo had their moments, but it was the booming attack of Indians that finally won.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy said, “I think today we didn’t play, the crowd played with us. It was a bad start in the first and half of second game, but we didn’t give up. We kept our nerves; we know how to play these situations. So, we were waiting for the good rhythm and then to take our chances. We were calmer in the second and third games. It felt like playing in Hyderabad. The crowd was amazing.”

Chirag Shetty stressed the serve was important. “After 13-8 we tried to play little smarter. Service was one thing that worked really well for us; it took them by surprise. We were also a lot calmer while defending as well.”

Satwik was still in disbelief over being crowned Asian champions. “Personally for me, it will take a lot of time to believe that we are the Asian champions. I still don’t believe we are Thomas Cup champions. It’s our dream to win for India and make the flag fly high. Good boost for us as we go into the Olympic qualification period,” he ended.