Satwik-Chirag revel in a confident, attacking style of play in Korea Open final win

Iterations of the same attack – fast, hard pushes, aggressive return of serve, deep smashes to the back court and strategic lifts – resonated throughout the fightback, as the Indians took identical 11-8 leads in the next two sets, and took off from there to win both comfortably, 21-13 and 21-14.

Undeterred by being a set down, the Indians amped up their attack to first scatter the Indonesian offense, and then countered with aggressive play of their own.

“The way we played today in the finals, didn’t start off that well but happy that we could win that second game and keep the momentum until the very end and yes, extremely happy that we could win the consecutive titles after the Indonesia Open,” Chirag Shetty said.

Here’s what a typical Satwik-Chirag attack has looked like throughout the Korean Open:

Confidence in abilities

There was a lot of drift in the packed stadium, and the side that Satwik-Chirag started from, was clearly the unfavourable, bad side of the court and led to early errors. However, the Indians seemed to have adapted faster to the conditions, with both Alfian and Ardianto missing the shuttles late in the game, even as the Indians showed greater control over the shuttle in bad conditions. Satwik-Chirag used the cross attack to negotiate the drift. But evidence of great anticipation and shuttle control came at 9-5 in the decider, when Satwik not only picked Alfian’s flick serve and moved back quickly, but also retorted with an attacking winner from an imbalanced position.

Attack that can scatter opponents’ offense

The match started with a series of body attacks on Satwik, as Alfian-Ardianto targeted his torso and the shuttles came on the face too. Forced into evasive action, the Indians first had to shore up their defense, and the rally at 14-19, a long one in the opener, showed resolute defense and relentless retrieving, before they started to counter.

The Indonesians were crafty at the net and rushing to the forecourt more. What the Indians did during those 6 points was push them back from the net so as to scatter their offense, and impose an attack of their own. Against fifth-ranked Hoki-Kobayashi in the quarterfinals, the Indians had pinned them back as well with deep smashes. There’s also the curvy swipe-lift that the Indians play which sucks the pace out of the shuttle, and goes high enough to deny Alfian-Ardianto a chance to smash down, throughout the second and the third sets.

Big smashes

Satwik had a blinder of a smash – 500 kph this tournament, and like a comet’s tail, such power-hitting leaves blazing doubts in the minds of opponents. On this day at 14-10 in the second, he sent down another scorcher, not for the record books, but to fetch a winner. The thing about a Satwik smash is not only does it have power, but oftentimes it comes from a tilting angle from a 6’2, 6’3 vantage and with a racquet positioning from where deception is too much to handle. But it was Shetty who started the smash-fest in the second, with his no back-swing hits and attack from short lifts.

It is this attacking tango that triumphed as the Indians stretched the lead in the second from 11-8 onwards. The Indians don’t merely hit hard, it is in their understanding of each other’s attack (when and where it’s hit) that flummoxed the Indonesians.

When Satwik hit, Chirag knew where the return would come and was ready for the follow-up and vice versa.

Satwik would also mix up the pace of the big hits, like at 13-9 in the second when he had the Indonesians bracing for a deep smash, but disguised it at the last moment for a short drop. Alfian-Ardianto were often left wondering where to return, confused by the big hit, if not the fear of it.

Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy after their win in the 2023 Korea Open men’s doubles final. (Twitter)

Not backing off from the jabbing

The initial bodyline attack might have pushed a lesser pairing back. But the Indians showed courage in not backing off from the fast exchanges especially in the decider just when they were about to break away at 13-10. One unembellished part of the Indian’s attack is their racquet speed in the parallel game. Even their pushes are hit with power, and on 7-3 and 11-8 in the third, Satwik and Chirag ensured that the straight taps were hit high and hard onto the Indonesian faces at an awkward length, leaving them scrambling.

Enjoying playing

It is not just in the joyous celebration of the Gangnam jive at the end. The Indians seem to be enjoying their attack-oriented play, the intensity getting even better, the higher the opponents are ranked. A feature of every final (they’ve won 6 out of six) has been how they keep it simple, and play all out without being afraid of defeats and taking risks. Backing their own attack, knowing it is one of the strongest in the world, the Indians love the combat and revel in their preposterously powerful strokes.

Satwik’s awareness of the court combines with Chirag’s forecourt frenzy. Even in rotations, with Satwik at the net and Chirag behind, the Indians can hold their own. Both have strong wrists for the grip changes, and a good fitness base for the explosive takeoffs. Tactically, not only are they adept at the first 3 shots – serve, return and retort, but also masters at the post-15 point and post-18 point play stages.

While they played more or less the same offense the last three days, the Indians have shown they can play different pairs with different strategies which bodes well for the big events. On Sunday, it took them 6 points – in a losing first set – to switch from defense to offense, and give a runway to their attack to wrest momentum. Neither Ardianto’s attack, nor Alfian’s deception thereafter were enough.