The Indian duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty has been on a dream run this season, winning the India Open Super 500 crown, the Commonwealth Games gold, Thomas Cup gold and a bronze at World Championships
The Indian duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty has been on a dream run this season, winning the India Open Super 500 crown, the Commonwealth Games gold, Thomas Cup gold and a bronze at World Championships
“Stuff of dreams,” said star Indian shuttler Satwiksairaj Rankireddy after he and Chirag Shetty became the first Indian pair to win the French Open Super 750 title in Paris.
The world number 8 pair on Sunday notched up their biggest title when it defeated Chinese Taipei’s Lu Ching Yao and Yang Po Han in the men’s doubles final of the French Open.
“Last night you’ve given me the biggest win on the tour – I’m thrilled beyond words and humbled beyond compare! Becoming the first Indian pair in almost 40 years to win a Super 750 Title is definitely the stuff of dreams!,” Satwik wrote on his instagram page.
“But not a moment longer to rest on our laurels, bigger goals & bigger titles are ahead – upwards & onwards to achieve them!!”
Inspired by Kidambi Srikanth
The 22-year-old from Amalapuram said Kidambi Srikanth’s triumph at the French Open in 2017 inspired him.
“It has been a dream tournament. We worked really hard for this. It was a different pressure, it was a big tournament and final, so feeling great,” he said.
“I actually saw Srikanth’s laptop that day and it had a profile picture of his French Open win, so I decided that I want that in my phone.
“I liked that fireworks in the picture in the background. I don’t have a laptop, maybe I’ll buy one now,” he said.
Dream run
The Indian duo has been on a dream run this season, winning the India Open Super 500 crown, the Commonwealth Games gold, Thomas Cup gold and a bronze at World Championships. It was their second world tour title.
“It feels amazing to finally win a Super 750, it couldn’t have been better than to win it at the French Open, it is definitely our favourite tournament on tour,” said Chirag.
“I would like to dedicate it all the people who truely believed in our potential, our family, fans and well wisher.”
Chirag and Satwik had finished runners-up in the French Open in 2019.
The Mumbai shuttler said sessions with Danish coach Mathias Boe really helped them.
“We have been working with our coach Mathias Boe on 1-2-3 strokes for the past few weeks, leading into the European tour and I am happy it all worked well for us.”
Talking about the final match, Chirag said: “The way we played, I mean, we stuck to our plan till the interval in second game. The shuttle was quite fast but we were able to control it.
“At 11-5, we gave away easy points and they came all guns blazing. But we kept calm and took it away in the end. We could keep it simple though we were a bit jittery.”
The Indian combination will be seen in action this week at the Hylo Open Super 300 tournament in Saarbrücken, Germany.