Satwik and Chirag in action in the BWF World tour Final semis. BWF / BadmintonPhoto
An absolutely blistering start to win the opening game. A tight second game that could have potentially gone either way. And finally, a decisive third game that flipped the script of the first. It was the same story between Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty and Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang for the second time in four days at the BWF World Tour Finals in Hangzhou. Only this time, in the semifinals on Saturday, Satwik-Chirag were at the receiving end of the defeat as the Paris Olympic silver medallists came back from behind to win 10-21, 21-17, 21-13 in 63 minutes. For the record, it was 12-21, 22-20, 21-14 in 60 minutes in favour of the Indians in the opening round clash in the Group of Death.
BWF’s logic of having a fresh draw before knockouts, where players or pairs from the same group can still face each other in the semifinals, needs a serious rethink. Especially in the case of men’s doubles this time, where one group was significantly more difficult than the other, meaning there is no perceivable advantage to topping the round-robin stage as Satwik-Chirag did by coming through three supremely difficult contests unscathed. Instead of facing the second-placed Indonesians from Group A, who struggled against the red-hot Kim Won Ho and Seo Seung Jae in the other semifinal, SatChi were left to fend off a rejuvenated Liang-Wang, buoyed on by the home crowd. Ask Akane Yamaguchi, for instance, and she’d perhaps agree too, because she was pitted against the irresistible An Se Young for the second time this week and ended up on the losing side both times, instead of playing the final potentially and pocketing a significantly better prize cheque at badminton’s most rewarding event on tour, monetarily.
Ultimately, that is not an excuse for SatChi’s result, but it meant the Indians had little gas left in their tanks for a fourth straight gruelling battle. “In the decider, yes (they got a lot more back). We were quite tired in the third game and not so sharp (because of the three-game battles earlier this week),” Chirag told BWF after the match, while paying due credit to the Chinese dynamic duo. “Last night we slept at 2.30. By the time we got done with the match (against Chia-Soh), it was almost midnight. Definitely, the third game outcome was surely a lot more due to our physical level because we were not as quick as in the first two. Our smashes really carried a lot of punch. And in the third set, we lost that. We have to work our way around such things.”
Satwik and Chirag playing for a drop shot during the BWF World tour Final semis. BWF / BadmintonPhoto
The takeaway, however, is that familiar follies were exposed in Satwik-Chirag’s name. The scenario that played on Saturday was pretty similar to what happened at the World Championships semifinal against another Chinese pairing. That week in Paris – again – Satwik-Chirag had gotten the better of Liang-Wang and Chia-Soh, only to come undone by the flick serves of Chen Bo Yang and Liu Yi. Today, first Wang (towards the end of the second game) and Liang (at the start of the third game) caused chaos in the Indian defence by mixing up flicks with low serves. The problem with the flick serve is not just dealing with one, but the confusion it causes in attacking with subsequent low or spinning serves. And in a discipline that is as fast-paced as men’s doubles, within the blink of an eye, a poor phase can take the game away from you. Satwik-Chirag found that out again as they trailed 2-11 in the third, a point from where comebacks are near impossible.
“I think we started off quite well in the first set. We caught them in the right areas where we had to. But I think in the second game they played a bit better, and we couldn’t really capitalise on the first game’s win. A few mistakes crept in. Although we were there in the second game, quite close, but it’s always a couple of points here and there. Whoever gets it, it takes the match. Credit to them,” Chirag said.
The good thing is that the Indian duo are aware of their shortcomings. “We practised mostly service-return. It’s the main game in doubles, if we have to keep up with the Malaysians, Indonesians and Chinese. If the rally opens up, we know we are strong. But in the service situations, we are not there with the other top pairs yet. We are learning,” Satwik had said after the first match.
The semifinal defeat brought an end to a rollercoaster year for Satwik-Chirag. The first half was filled with niggles and personal setbacks, and saw them slide down to world No 27 at one point. They are finishing the season without a title, but back somewhere close to their best, with a World Championships bronze medal and a semifinal finish at the World Tour Finals to show for their improved consistency. As Satwik put it, “No matter what, just keep going. If I look back, we are so proud of how we came back this year and kept playing, playing, playing.”