File image of Prakash Padukone.© X (Twitter)

Chirag Shetty has lashed out at the government for not treating all sports equally.© AFP

Star Indian men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty has “cracked” the service variation challenge and is focussing on “comprehensive physical and mental conditioning” to ensure peak performance at the upcoming Paris Olympics. Satwik, 23, and Chirag, 26, have been troubled by the wide variations of tumble, spin and wide serves that their opponents, mainly the Koreans and Indonesians, have employed against them during the recent tournaments. Chirag said they have addressed the “new challenge” and remains confident of negotiating it during the Paris Games.

“Regarding serve variations, they are a new challenge, but placing complete importance on that wouldn’t be right,” Chirag told PTI in an email interview.

“There was a time when we struggled with receiving them, but we eventually cracked it. We know what to do, we’ve been practicing, and we’re confident we’ll come out strong at the Olympics to counter that.” The current world number 3 pair had narrowly missed out of a quarterfinal berth in the last Olympics when despite winning two of their three group matches, the duo couldn’t qualify for the knockout stage as it was settled on the basis of the number of games won and lost.

“The experience of playing in the Tokyo Olympics has been invaluable in our preparation for the Paris Games. Competing at such a high level has taught us crucial lessons about handling pressure, staying focused, and adapting to different playing conditions,” Satwik said.

Chirag added: “The intensity and atmosphere of the Olympics are unparalleled, and having been through it once, we now have a better understanding of what to expect and the initial jitters of being at the Olympics for the first time are also not going to be there.

“Additionally, winning the French Open has naturally given us a significant confidence boost.” In the last couple of years, the duo worked its way to become the world number one after a series of sensational performance, including winning the Commonwealth Games gold medal, a bronze at the World Championships in 2022, and gold in the Hangzhou Asian Games.

They also played a crucial role in India’s epic Thomas Cup win in 2022. Satwik and Chirag have won the French Open and Thailand Open this year after reaching the finals at the Malaysian Super 750 and India Super 750.

“As the Olympics draw closer, our approach is becoming more focussed and strategic. We’re fine-tuning every aspect of our game to ensure peak performance when we step onto the court in Paris,” Satwik said.

“This includes developing specific game plans for our potential opponents by studying their strengths and weaknesses in detail, concentrating on targeted drills, and enhancing our on-court positions and shot selections.

“We are taking a holistic approach to our preparations. We’re in a good rhythm and are eagerly looking forward to be back at the Olympics. Comprehensive physical and mental conditioning is at the heart of our preparation.” The duo has been troubled sometimes by the left-right combinations such as Korean Seo Seung-jae and Kang Min-hyuk and Danish Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen but Chirag feels they don’t have any problem against any particular pair.

“I can’t really pinpoint a specific pair that we find particularly tricky to play against. On any given day, if a pair plays well, they can pose a challenge. However, I believe that if we play at our best, we can beat anyone,” he said.

“So, there’s no specific pair or lefty-righty combination that particularly affects us. That said, all our competitors in the Olympics will be quite good…” On expectations and handling pressure at the big-ticket event, Satwik said: “We understand Olympics is the greatest, biggest tournament there is and naturally there are hopes and wishes from each Olympic-bound athlete.

“We don’t want to think so much about the pressures, we’re looking to go out there, enjoy the atmosphere, have a great time on court and take it one game at a time and see how it goes. We do not want to put ourselves under any pressure from the word go.

“We’re used to the expectations and pressures that come along in our game… we’re primarily looking to go out there and do great things on the court and have fun while doing that.” Chirag and Satwik are also mentors of PNB MetLife Junior Badminton Championship (JBC), which will begin on August 1 in the national capital.

“JBC offers a fantastic opportunity to nurture budding badminton talent in India. JBC also offers players access to mentoring, coaching, and training from veterans in the sport. Badminton has significantly shaped my life, and I want to share its benefits with the next generation, helping them achieve their dreams,” Chirag said.

Satwik said: “As JBC mentors, we offer guidance on videos to young athletes on drills, techniques, strategies to improve their game, tips on mental resilience, and managing competition stress. Chirag and I will also be offering tips to players in person, whenever we visit any city edition matches.”

There is nobody more qualified in Indian badminton than Leroy D’Sa to talk about doubles in badminton. The only Indian shuttler to win four medals at the Asian Games, D’Sa is one of the finest doubles players the country has ever produced, and his success came at a time when doubles was the ignored art. D’Sa had to regularly set up scratch partnerships with top male and female singles players like Prakash Padukone, Ami Ghia, and Kanwal Thakur Singh to win medals in Asian Games doubles and mixed doubles.

So when Leroy D’Sa picks a pair as a favourite to win a medal at the upcoming Paris Olympic Games, one has to sit down and take note of it.

D’Sa picked India’s former World No.1 men’s doubles pair Satwaksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty as India’s best bet to win a medal in the upcoming Olympic Games, placing the pair ahead of two-time Olympics medallist P.V Sindhu.

“Players have been playing right throughout the year and there are too much of expectations. But I personally feel the most important point was to qualify for the Olympics. From all the players who have qualified I believe we have a very good chance of coming back with a bigger haul than ever,” said D’Sa during a panel discussion on India’s chances at the Paris Olympics organised by the Sports Journalists Association of Mumbai (SJAM) on the occasion of World Sports Journalists Day on Tuesday.

Hockey Olympian and Olympic Gold Quest CEO Viren Rasqinha, Athletics Federation of India President Adille Sumariwalla, chief coach of Indian rifle shooting team Suma Shirur and former India Davis Cupper Purav Raja were the other participants in the panle discussion.

D’Sa said that this time the badminton contingent at Paris will be the largest-ever from India at the Olympics as so many players have qualified for the Games.

“Two boys in the singles category (Lakshya Sen, H.S Prannoy), Sidhu in the women’s singles, Chirag-Satwik in men’s doubles. In my opinion, Chirag/Satwik are the best prospects to come back with a medal. I would place Sindhu next because she is the one who has tasted blood and knows what it takes to win at the highest level. She is once again in good form and I am very sure with the guidance that she is receiving from Prakash Padukone, winning a medal I don’t think will be difficult,” said D’Sa.

Three medals if not four: D’Sa

D’Sa, who won three bronze medals in the 1982 Asian Games in men’s doubles, mixed doubles, and men’s team and a fourth bronze in the 1986 Games in Seoul in men’s team event, picked both Lakshya Sen and H.S Prannoy as dark horses.

“Lakshya Sen and H.S Prannoy both, to me, are the dark horses in the singles. Lakshya Sen once again has been playing extremely well. Unfortunately, HS Prannoy has been having some medical issues. He has not played very well. But I think now that is all over. If these players are able to be injury-free I am very sure that this time we will come back with at least three medals if not four,” said D’Sa.

D’Sa also has high hopes from the young women’s doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, who he said have gained enough experience and caused many upsets on the BWF circuit.

A 17-year-old Chinese badminton player died after collapsing on court during an international tournament in Indonesia, officials said on Monday, mourning him as “outstanding” and “talented”. Zhang Zhijie was suddenly taken ill during a match late Sunday against Japan’s Kazuma Kawano at the Asia Junior Championships in Yogyakarta. The score was 11-11 in the first game when Zhang fell to the floor. He received treatment at the venue and was taken to hospital by ambulance, but passed away after efforts to resuscitate him failed. 

The cause of death was not immediately known. 

“China’s Zhang Zhijie, a singles player, collapsed on the court during a match in the evening,” Badminton Asia and the Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) said in a joint statement on Monday.

“He was sent to the hospital where he passed away at 23:20 local time yesterday. 

“He was attended to by the tournament doctor and medical team. He was taken in the standby ambulance in less than two minutes and sent to hospital.

“The world of badminton has lost a talented player,” the statement added.

Zhang started playing badminton in kindergarten and joined China’s national youth team last year.

Earlier this year he won the singles title at the Dutch Junior International, a prestigious youth tournament.

China’s badminton association said that it was “deeply saddened”.

“Zhang Zhijie loved badminton and was an outstanding athlete of the national youth badminton team,” the CBA said in a statement.

It added: “At present the local hospital has not yet identified the cause of death.” 

The team tournament in the city of Yogyakarta held a moment’s silence on Monday and the Chinese team wore black armbands as a mark of respect.

India’s P.V. Sindhu, who has won Olympic silver and bronze, called Zhang’s death “absolutely heartbreaking”.

“I offer my deepest condolences to Zhang’s family during this devastating time,” Sindhu, who was not at the tournament, wrote on X.

“The world has lost a remarkable talent today.”

Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, the bronze medallists from the 2022 World Championship in Tokyo and the 2022 Asian Games gold medallists, are the first Indian men’s doubles pair to be ranked world No.1 in badminton and will represent India at Paris 2024.

The duo met with Dinesh Karthik on JioCinema’s ‘Get Set Gold’, where they unpacked secrets to their game, talked about the initial language barrier they faced in their partnership, and their common love for South Indian music.

Satwiksairaj, who holds the Guinness World Record for the fastest hit, clocking a speed of 565 km/hr, gave an insight into the technique behind the smash and what inspired him.

“I learned the smash from volleyball, how players jump and smash. It looks like a heroic movement and that is how I started learning my jump when I was young. Nobody taught me this and I think the smash has achieved success somehow. I try taking a peripheral view to subconsciously sense where the opponents are standing. Earlier, I used to play a lot with angles and hit the line, but now I try hitting towards the opponent’s body.”

While Shetty and Rankireddy took Karthik through their workout regime, they also discussed the physicality of their opponents and how it surprised them on most occasions. Shetty described the nuances of playing a doubles match, and what are the various aspects other than power that define their game. He then took Karthik through the drills they do to perfect their defence and develop muscle memory.

“When we talk about doubles, the game is not just about power. The game is a lot more about the defence, the net game, on how to get the lift right. Defence is another important part of the game. There are a lot of aspects when you think about doubles, and it is not just about power.”

Shetty also shared how Rankireddy influenced his music playlist with songs from Rajnikanth’s, Kamal Haasan’s, and Shah Rukh Khan’s movies, over a game of carrom.

“Earlier, I used to listen to a lot of Punjabi music. But just before the Asian Games, Satwik made me listen to songs from Anirudh (Ravichander),” said Shetty. Rankireddy explained their playlist sequence, “To begin with there’s ‘Hukum’, then Vikram’s title track, and slowly we go into dance mode with ‘Chaleya’. Chirag set the KGF background score as our entrance theme into the court.”

Shetty and Rankireddy then discussed the tough days in their partnership and how they overcame them to become the world’s no.1 ranked pair.

“Earlier, I used to feel burdened, it felt like someone was purposely making me play with him and it was against our will. We did not speak the same language, which created many barriers. I used to speak in Hindi, while Satwik was more familiar with Telugu. The then coach, Kim Tan, said that he felt that we would make a good pair as we had a good attack. He felt we could make it to the Top 20. This conversation made us feel less burdened and we felt like partnering with each other willingly, Shetty said.

Rankireddy then shared how their partnership has become perfect and how it feels like their souls talk to each other in between the matches.

Shetty and Rankireddy are currently the third-ranked pair in the men’s doubles and are serious contenders for the Olympic Games Paris 2024. In the last two years, the duo won a Gold Medal each in the 2022 Asian Games and Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, along with more accolades at the 2022 World Championships, 2022 Thomas Cup, and 2023 Asian Championship.

Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand in action© X (Twitter)

Indian women’s doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand© Badminton Photo

PV Sindhu suffered yet another setback against Carolina Marin, but the rising Indian women’s doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand stunned world number two Baek Ha Na and Lee So Hee of South Korea to enter the quarterfinals at Singapore Open here on Thursday. Double Olympic medallist Sindhu blew away an 18-15 lead in the decider to go down to familiar rival Marin in a thrilling 21-13 11-21 20-22 women’s singles last-16 match. It was Sindhu’s sixth loss on the trot against her arch-rival, dating back to 2018.

The Commonwealth Games bronze medallist duo of Treesa and Gayatri kept the Indian flag flying high by eliminating Baek and Lee 21-9 14-21 21-15 in close to one-hour battle.

This was the world number 30 Indian duo’s maiden win from three meetings against the world number two Korean pair.

They will be up against another South Korean pair — sixth seed Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong — in the quarterfinal of the BWF World Tour Super 750 event.

The Indian duo had lost to the Korean pair at the Hangzhou Asian Games pre-quarterfinals last year.

The Baek-Lee duo was error prone as Treesa and Gayatri held a commanding 18-9 lead before taking the opening game without much fuss.

But the Indians allowed the South Koreans to bounce back, committing unforced errors in the second game as the match went to the deciding third game.

The rival pairs exchanged some powerful smashes and were locked 8-all before the Indian duo took a slender two-point lead at the final mid game break.

They continued to play with aggression and reeled off six points on succession to make it 16-9 and seal a memorable win.

In the men’s singles, world No. 10 HS Prannoy, seeded eighth, lost 13-21, 21-14, 15-21 to Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto, ranked 11th in the world, in a 45-minute match.

This was the Indian’s fourth defeat against the Japanese in six matches.

In the women’s singles, Sindhu, fresh from her runner-up finish at the Malaysia Masters last week, took the opening game against her Rio Olympics final nemesis, but the Spaniard bounced back to win in a one-hour, eight-minute battle.

Having saved one match point, Sindhu committed a sloppy misjudgement of the shuttle on the backline to prolong her wait to five years and 11 months.

Sindhu had last beaten Marin in the quarterfinals of the Malasyia Open on June 29, 2018. Since then, the Indian has endured six losses on the trot.

Facing each other for the first time in seven months after their heated Denmark Open semi-final clash, the double Olympic medalist Indian dominated the opening game against an error-prone Marin.

With a powerful body smash, Sindhu took a massive 11-6 lead and maintained her authority to extend it to 15-8.

The third-seeded Marin tried to come back but Sindhu held her ways and sealed it comfortably.

But the Spaniard World No. 3 bounced back strongly in a lopsided second game, where she won six points on the trot and cruised to a 17-7 lead to force a decider.

Maintaining her lead, Sindhu nosed 11-9 ahead in the final mid-game interval as she unleashed a powerful body smash to make it 14-10.

Sindhu exhibited a brilliant drop shot as she went two points shy of an elusive win against Marin making it 19-17.

But the Indian lost her composure as she found the net, allowing Marin to bounce back and get a match point at 19-20.

Marin, however, shot it wide as the game hung in balance at 20-all before the Spaniard got another match point with her fiery smash.

But this time, Marin had the last laugh with Sindhu erring on her judgment on back court. This was Marin’s 12th career win from 17 matches against the Indian.

Star shuttlers PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy progressed to the second round but Lakshya Sen went down fighting to world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen at the Singapore Open Super 750 Badminton Tournament here on Wednesday. Sindhu had last won a BWF title at Singapore two years back and she entered the tournament after signing off with a runner-up finish at Thailand Open last week. Up against world no. 21 Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt of Denmark, the Indian registered a 21-12 22-20 win in a 44-minute opening round encounter to set up a mouth-watering battle against Rio Olympic champion Carolina Marin of Spain.

World No. 3 Marin has an overwhelming 11-5 record against the Indian. The last time the two clashed, it turned out to be an ill-tempered match at Denmark Open which saw both players receiving yellow cards for verbal exchanges.

World No. 10 Prannoy then quelled a spirited challenge from Julien Carraggi, ranked 45, of Belgium 21-9 18-21 21-9 to set up a meeting with Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto next.

Commonwealth Games bronze medallist pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand notched up a 21-7 21-14 win over Cheng Yu-Pei and Sun Yu Hsing of Chinese Taipei to make a good start in women’s doubles.

However world No. 14 Lakshya, who will be making his Olympic debut at the Paris Games, fought hard but went out of steam after the change of ends in the decider to go down 13-21 21-16 13-21 in 62 minutes against Axelsen, who won his first title of the season at Thailand Open last week.

Kidambi Srikanth’s opening round match ended in agony as he retired due to a knee injury after lagging 14-21 3-11 against Japan’s fifth seed Kodai Naraoka.

In other results, Olympic-bound women’s combination of Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa lost 21-18 19-21 19-21 to Ukraine’s Polina Buhrova and Yevheniia Kantemyr, while men’s pair of Krishna Prasad Garage and Sai Pratheek K suffered a 16-21 22-24 loss to second seeded Chinese Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang.

B Sumeeth Reddy and N Sikki Reddy lost 18-21 19-21 to Malaysia’s Goh Soon Huat and Lai Shevon Jemie in mixed doubles, while Venkat Gaurav Prasad and Juhi Dewangan lost 8-21 8-21 against Mads Vestergaard and Christine Busch in another match.

Sindhu vs Line

Sindhu held a 3-0 head-to-head count against Line but things started on an even note as the two were tied 8-8 at one stage before the Indian grabbed a two-point advantage at the break with a fine drop shot.

The Indian moved to 16-11 with some quick points as Line made too many unforced errors during the testing rallies. Sindhu soon held eight game points and converted it with a straight return.

After the change of sides, Sindhu continued the momentum to open up a 5-1 lead before taking an 11-7 cushion at the interval, with Line finding the net.

However, the Dane slowly clawed back at 14-14 and stood four points away from taking the match to the decider, but Sindhu stepped up the pace in time to dash her hopes as she reeled off six straight points to seal the win.