The Four Eyes that keep Satwik & Chirag on the right track

‘Four eyes see better than two,’ went Matthias Boe’s announcement on Instagram of “secret” intelligence-sharing that has admittedly happened behind the scenes.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Chirag Shetty and their Malaysian coach Tan Kim Her have all been in cahoots with Boe for a month now, plotting against the best names in men’s doubles from Korea, Indonesia, China, Taiwan and Malaysia.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty in action. (FILE photo)

The result was the Indians dissecting and defeating World No. 1 Koreans and No.3 Indonesians on their way to the Singapore title. The World No.2 Chinese and No.5 Malaysians were neutralized on their way to winning the World Championships bronze last year. It’s why the four eyes of their partnership-creator coach Tan and their opponent-destroyer, coach Boe, are both needed.

“It’s not a statement-making win or anything. We have won Super 750s, even Super 1000s before,” Chirag would state during a media interaction. But Satwik would declare his bucket list – to win in every arena in Japan, Korea, Singapore – basically, everywhere. And Chirag would avow that the unfinished business of an Olympic medal remains the ultimate goal.

“We are not trying to prove any point to anyone. We are very driven by ourselves. Also very critical of ourselves,” Satwik would stress, adding they were feeling upbeat after ending the title drought and ambitious about winning every major event. With the on-boarding of consultant Boe, who feels the sting of their losses as much as Tan does, the Avengers had assembled.

“He’s helping remotely with match analysis. All four of us sit together (online) and see what works, what doesn’t,” Chirag would say.

A proper brainstorm follows the storm they have been through. The World Championships in Delhi and the Asian Games at Nagoya are the short-term goals.

Attacking smashes are their first instinct. What Boe brings is nuance to the offensive play. “Small changes, like going down the line when smashing instead of into the body,” Chirag explained.

Different approaches

From coach Tan came the method to tackle the dreaded spin-serve that wrecked their Olympics and six months before Paris.

“It took us time to go from Boe to Tan. Almost 90 percent of their ideas are the same, but it needed a brain-opener,” Satwik would add. It’s been hard work. “Pushing in training even on Sundays.”

A Boe-Tan combo will also thrash out the clarity of who makes the play and sets it up for the partner. Unlike any other pairing where one is creative and the other a muscling-finisher, the Indians are versatile – both can switch roles. It’s what Boe-Tan will optimise.

Singapore was also crucial because the whirlpool playing hall is one of the biggest tests in terms of drift. It took time for them to understand how high the lifts needed to be to thwart smashing, says Chirag. Last year, they made the semis, this year they were ready to win the title. For Satwik, Singapore was a test of their patience.

Satwik-Chirag in action (FILE photo)

Satwik-Chirag are literally facing a different style each day, given Seo-Kim, Wang-Liang, Fikri-Fajar and Chia-Soh, not to mention the new Malaysian pairs and their Chinese threat, Chen-Liu, all play different games.

“They know we have a strong attack. Nobody likes lifting the shuttle to us. But everyone has a different style, we need to prepare for each match,” Chirag explained.

The biggest problem for Satwik-Chirag, invisible to most but highlighted by HS Prannoy, was sparring – another area where Boe can step in. The Dane takes massive pride in his coaching nous while Tan, who coupled them, has high stakes in seeing them succeed.

But the Indians struggled for a year coming up against lefties. They solved that, but high quality sparring – that other powerhouses have – is missing here.

“If Arjun-Hari are playing a tournament, we have nobody to spar with,” Satwik said. “At the All England, we asked the Indonesians if we could spar with them. The confidence I got from just two days was outstanding. Sparring is like homework, preparing for an exam.”

In a partnership of a dozen years, the good days have come from implicitly trusting each other.

And the bad days? “If it’s not a good day, you trust your partner even more,” Satwik would say, of the secret superpower of the eight eyes.